Notts fan Jack Richardson assesses the club's chances of success in 2007, as we continue our county previews.
2006 in a Nutshell:
Last season was very disappointing for Nottinghamshire with relegation from the County Championship and the loss of the Twenty20 cup final at Trent Bridge. Despite some brilliant contributions with the ball by Charlie Shreck, the batters underperformed, collecting only 40 batting points. Going down by only ½ a point was frustrating as was that no-ball in the final of the Twenty20 cup. In the one day game Notts are very much an improving side, despite an average finish in the then-named C&G trophy.
2007 Prospects
Batting:
The batting needs to improve and should do with the signings of Will Jefferson, Mark Wagh and Bilal Shafayat. With Stephen Fleming and David Hussey as overseas players, there should be no problem in the middle order, but Jason Gallian’s form was awful last season. Chris Read and the evergreen Mark Ealham are dangerous middle order batsmen in both forms of the game.
Bowling:
The bowling was, on the whole, very good for Notts last season, and hopefully that will continue. With the arrival of Rob Ferley from Kent to bolster the spin attack, and with Shreck, Ryan Sidebottom, And Harris and Mark Ealham as quicks, finding 20 wickets in a four-day game shouldn’t be too difficult.
Probable Championship side:
Gallian
Jefferson
Wagh
Fleming
Hussey
Read
Ealham
Swann
Sidebottom
Harris
Shreck
However, because of the World Cup Fleming won’t arrive until May 23rd, so this may give a chance for Samit Patel to shine.
The one-day team changes basically every match; it could look like
Jefferson
Swann
Fleming
Patel
Hussey
Read
Ealham
Franks
Sidebottom
Harris
Shreck
Key Man:
The key man will probably be David Hussey. Captaining the team until Fleming returns, hopefully he can recapture the same form with the bat he had last season and with Victoria in the winter. He should thrive in Division 2 facing lesser bowling attacks, as Mark Ramprakash did for Surrey last season.
Captain and Coach:
The coach Mick Newell seems a bit of a coward to me, and I am not totally convinced about him. Having been promoted or relegated every season he has been here, I think he is too inconsistent. Fleming is a very fine captain, perhaps the best in the world. It will be interesting to see how Hussey does as captain in the interim.
2007 county previews home
2 comments:
As a Hants fan it filled with much satisfcation to see Notts relegated after 2005. However, they are a good side, though so are some of the other sides in their division. They should come straight back, especially if Fleming, Hussey, Shafayat, Jefferson and Wagh fire in the top five.
I'd be very dissapointed to see Shafayat and Patel left out of the county side .. I feel maybe Shafayat may need to prove himself a little more to get a regular spot which he's definitely capable off but Patel is a must ... one of our better performers last year and started the season with 133 in a friendly at Kent .. also offers an extra spin option too.
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