Thursday’s Friends Life t20 quarter-final at Trent Bridge will be the first time Nottinghamshire and Essex have met in t20 cricket but the two counties have had some classic confrontations in longer matches over the years. Here are a few of the most memorable matches as recounted by Dave Bracegirdle.

Player’s County League, Chelmsford 1969 – Essex won by 37 runs.
The opening round of the very first domestic 40-over competition saw Nottinghamshire travel to Chelmsford to face Essex. The home side made 185 for nine, with Notts only able to muster 148 all out in reply, with captain Garfield Sobers run out without scoring.

County Championship, Trent Bridge 2007 – Notts won by innings and 112 runs.
David Hussey made the fourth-highest individual score ever made by a Nottinghamshire batsman, on the second day of a home championship match against Essex. The Australian hit 27 fours and 14 sixes in a 280-minute innings of 275. He faced 227 deliveries and shared in a county-record fifth-wicket stand of 359 in 54 overs with Chris Read, who scored 165. Notts declared after reaching a total of 664-7 and went on to win by an innings.

County Championship, Newark 1972 – Match Drawn
Elm Avenue, Newark, was the venue for Derek Randall’s Nottinghamshire debut. Playing in the championship against Essex, he scored 78 in his only innings of the drawn encounter. The 21-year-old from Retford arrived at the crease with the score on 92 for five and made his runs in 140 minutes, hitting four boundaries and five sixes.

John Player League, Chelmsford 1980 – Notts won by 18 runs
Peter Hacker took 51 wickets for Nottinghamshire in List A cricket. The left-arm fast-medium bowler produced his best figures in a John Player League match against Essex at Chelmsford. Hacker’s figures of 7.3-1-16-6 helped his side to an 18-run victory.

County Championship, Chelmsford 2007 – Match Drawn 2007
Although a positive outcome looked unlikely from the start, Nottinghamshire’s match against Essex at Chelmsford did make its way into the record books. Having seen their opponents pile up a first-innings total of 700-9 declared over the first two days, the visitors then found the surface equally productive. A career-best 240 from Chris Read, following on from Samit Patel’s 117, Mark Wagh’s 107, and backed up by 97 from Graeme Swann, sent the statisticians into overdrive as Nottinghamshire made 791 all out – their highest first class total.

John Player League, Trent Bridge 1989 – Notts won on faster scoring rate
Kevin Saxelby set a new record for English domestic one-day cricket when he became the first bowler to take five wickets in an innings in four consecutive Sunday League matches. The Nottinghamshire fast bowler took 5-36 against Essex, following on from 5-24 v Warwickshire, 6-30 v Leicestershire and 5-45 v Northamptonshire. All of the matches were won and, unsurprisingly, Saxelby’s 29 wickets that season made him the country’s leading wicket-taker in the competition.

County Championship, Leyton 1905 – Match Drawn
Any record that lasts for more than a century is worthy of praise. Although the final day of Nottinghamshire’s clash with Essex at Leyton was allowed to peter out into a tame draw, it did enable Arthur Jones and John Gunn to spend time in the middle getting to know each other a little better. Opener Jones made 274 and Gunn reached 151 as a new county record fourth-wicket stand of 361 was posted.

NatWest Trophy Final, Lord’s 1985 – Essex won by 1 run
Nottinghamshire lost the final of the NatWest Trophy to Essex by just one run at Lord’s. Seemingly out of it when they began the final over still requiring 18, Derek Randall had other ideas as he hit the first three balls for boundaries and followed that with a brace of twos. Requiring only two from the final delivery, bowled by Derek Pringle, Randall chipped to midwicket, where Paul Prichard held the catch to shatter Nottinghamshire’s dreams.

John Player Special League, Trent Bridge 1985 – Essex won by 44 runs
The day after beating Notts at Lord’s (above) Essex helped themselves to another piece of silverware by defeating the same side at Trent Bridge to collect the domestic Sunday league title. Openers Graham Gooch (171) and Brian Hardie (60) put on a club record 239 for the first wicket as Essex rattled up 252 for three. In reply Notts stumbled to 208 all out, with John Lever taking four for 35.

Benson and Hedges Cup Final, Lord’s 1989 – Notts won by 3 wickets
A tense conclusion to the Benson and Hedges Cup final at Lord’s saw Nottinghamshire sneak past Essex from the last delivery, after Alan Lilley’s 95 not out had lifted his side to 243-7 from their 55 overs. Notts lost openers Broad and Pollard early in their reply but experienced trio Robinson (86), Johnson (54) and Randall (49) all kept the chase alive. Eight were needed from the last over and four from the final ball. Forty-year-old Eddie Hemmings stepped back to cut John Lever away to the backward-point boundary to give Notts their only title in the competition’s history.

Refuge Assurance League, Southend-on-Sea 1990 – Notts won by 6 wickets
The only domestic one-day century of Mick Newell’s career came against Essex at Southchurch Park. Chasing down a victory target of 240, after the home side had been bowled out in 38.4 overs, Notts’ current director of cricket scored an unbeaten 109. Franklyn Stephenson was alongside Newell at the end, making 26 not out after earlier collecting figures of three for 28 in the Essex innings, for whom Graham Gooch hit 136.

Tickets for the Outlaws' Friends Life t20 quarter-final are now on general sale from our online box office.

Supporters can also visit the Trent Bridge ticket office or call the ticket hotline (0844 8118711) during office hours.

Friends Life t20 Quarter-Final Ticket information
Notts Outlaws v Essex Eagles, Thursday 8 August, 7.10pm CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

Ticket prices:
Buy before 4.30pm on Wednesday 7 August: 
Members - Adults £15 / Under 16s £8 / Over 65s £8
Non-members - Adults £17 / Under 16s £9 / Over 65s £9 / families (2+2) £43
On the day:
Adults £20 / Over 65s £20 / Under 16s £10 / Families (2+2) £50