Wayne Noon felt that despite Nottinghamshire’s defeat in Abu Dhabi to an MCC side, there were a lot of positives to take from playing the fixture.

“Batters five to eight in the order were a bit like last year, all in form in the second innings and each passed fifty which was pleasing to see.

“We managed to get around 170 overs into everyone’s legs which, at this time of year, is a massive bonus.”

Luke Fletcher’s form particularly impressed Noon.

“He bounced back from a disappointing end to last season. He’s got himself fit and bowled well. He got through forty overs and picked up eight wickets which will give him a great boost.”

Of the other bowlers, the acting Director of Cricket paid them all compliments.

“Paul Franks took the new ball and bowled with good control, Samit got through a lot of overs and bowled tidily and the two young lads Jake Ball and Brett Hutton each demonstrated with their second innings spells that they can do a job at this level.”

The fixture signalled the earliest-ever start to a domestic campaign, a statistic not lost on Noon.

“It was disappointing to lose in three days but you’ve got to put it into perspective – it’s still only March and there’s still a long way to go before the first championship match, let alone the whole season so we’re not going to get too down about it.”

Notts travel along the coast to Dubai on Friday to compete with MCC, Durham, Sussex and a Fly Emirates X1 for a day of Twenty20 cricket for the Emirates Cup.