Ryan Sidebottom is aiming to sign off in style when he makes what could be his last appearance of the season for Nottinghamshire against Leicestershire Foxes in the Friends Provident Trophy.

The 31-year-old has been given permission by the ECB to play in the crucial fixture at Grace Road before he joins up with England ahead of the NatWest One-day Series with West Indies.

Sidebottom has been steadily building up his match-fitness since surgery on his Achilles in pre-season and has enjoyed the chance to spend time with his Notts team-mates.

He said: “It’s been fantastic to be in and around the dressing room for the past few weeks. The coaching staff have been brilliant as usual and helped me get through my rehab really well.

“I’m pain-free and have been able to stay fit and get some overs under my belt. My rhythm has been returning and I’ve been pretty happy with the way I’ve bowled.

“Now I just want to help the lads get a win over Leicestershire and take another step towards the quarter-finals.”

Notts may need two wins from their final two games against the Foxes and Hampshire Hawks to guarantee qualification from Group A and Director of Cricket Mick Newell is aiming to finish top and claim a home tie in the quarter-finals.

Said Newell: “It looks like qualification will go down to the final round of games on Wednesday and we must aim to finish with two more wins.

“We didn’t bat particularly well against Ireland at the weekend but still ground out the victory and that’s what we’ll need to do in these next two fixtures.

“It’s good to have ‘Sid’ available for us and I think the matches he’s played have been important to getting him ready for England duty.

“His pace and fitness are back, he’s been using his variations to good effect and I believe he’s ready to play international cricket again. If he does well, as he has in the past 18 months, we won’t be seeing him in Notts colours for a while.”

Newell will take a 13-man squad to travel to Leicester, with the rested Andre Adams and Mark Ealham joining the 11 who played in Dublin at the weekend.

Squad v Leicestershire:
Mark Wagh, Ali Brown, Alex Hales, Samit Patel, Adam Voges, Will Jefferson, Chris Read (capt/wkt), Paul Franks, Ryan Sidebottom, Luke Fletcher, Darren Pattinson, Andre Adams, Mark Ealham.