Newell was first handed control of team affairs on a temporary basis following Clive Rice’s departure in 2002. After a successful trial period in which he gained promotion to the top tier of the Championship, he was handed the job on a permanent basis. Relegations either side of winning the Championship in 2005 were obvious low points but, once again, Nottinghamshire are competing at the top end in four day cricket.
Second placed finishes in the first division of the championship in 2008 and 2009 point to successful seasons but they have served to strengthen Newell’s resolve to bring another championship crown to Trent Bridge, a focal point of his strategic aims.
”I get emails and letters from people who want the team to be more successful but nobody wants that more than I do,” he said.
“We’ve had ups and downs then but I generally feel that I know where we’re heading and I’ve got the confidence of the people that I work for and those that work for me.
“I love this job but the hardest part of it is when the game is on because I’m nervous about it. When we’re bowling there’s a bit of control but when I see us lose a wicket there’s no way of turning the clock back.
“I’m not here to enjoy watching cricket matches, I’m here to enjoy winning cricket matches but when we do I feel relief rather than elation. For seven months of the year, cricket dominates my life and I feel drained at the end of it.”
Newell’s style (he considers himself to be a manager rather than a coach) has certainly helped to attract high-profile players to the club. Ryan Sidebottom, Mark Ealham, Stephen Fleming, Mark Wagh and David Hussey have all flourished at Trent Bridge and although Newell tries to remove himself from streaming technical advice to professional players, he keeps a close watch on every aspect of the logistics, budgeting and development of the team.
“Ken Taylor was very much a manager rather than a coach during his time here and I have a similar style in the way I try to organise things and make sure the players are happy playing for the club,” says Newell.
“I don’t want to keep a distance from the players because it’s not my style. Some coaches don’t care one way or the other but it’s important to me to be liked. My only motivation is to make Notts successful and to win trophies. We need to raise our game because whilst we’re good at four day cricket, I think we can push ourselves that little bit harder. I want to look back in years to come and say that we had a successful team over a period of time.
“I always have an eye on the longer-term strategy of the team but the next two months are always the most important. We’ll never pick a player just because he’s from Nottinghamshire but we definitely want to be able to develop Nottinghamshire players so that they can get into the team on merit.”
Historically resisting the temptation to wield the axe wherever possible, Newell’s handling of out of form players is designed to give them every chance to improve. Even when opening batsmen struggled last season, his policy was to back them for an extended run of games in the hope that they will address any flaws in their game.
“I like to show faith in people and that’s been evident this year where I’ve given people a long run of games to produce the goods because I don’t think it’s fair to drop people for individual performances,” he says.
“I don’t think we’ve always got the balance quite right on that and I think I should have made changes earlier in some instances but I just kept hoping that things would fall into place.
“Apart from Paul Franks and Chris Read, I’ve brought every single player in the squad to the club and because of that I desperately want them to succeed because I feel a sense of ownership and responsibility.”
Newell hopes to give increasing responsibility to the club’s emerging talent in his quest to turn competitiveness into silverware.
Alex Hales and Luke Fletcher will be given more responsibility after showing signs of great promise in 2009 and Andy Carter and Akhil Patel will also expect to push for places.
“The standout players last season were Chris Read and Andre Adams and if they can maintain their form and senior professionals perform at a similar level then that will lay solid foundations for a good season,” said Newell.
“A few of the players will admit that they weren’t quite hitting their straps at times last season and they will be determined to address that and to contribute to a winning team. The younger players were on a steep learning curve last season but showed that they can hold a place by right and the combination of improving young players, experienced senior professionals and eager new signings should give us the right balance.”
In a summer where several high-profile county players came on to the market, Newell refused to be held to ransom to bring a household name into the dressing room. However, talismanic batsman David Hussey has committed himself to Trent Bridge for the majority of the season and will be central to any success in the enhanced Twenty20 Cup and revamped 40-over competiton.
“When I sign a player, the starting point for me is to find out what motivates them to perform at their peak,” said Mick.?
“Some want to play for England, some want to play for Notts, some love cricket and some just don’t like the idea of working for a living. Once you’ve found that motivating reason you can work effectively with the player and as long as their value to the team outweighs any difficulties that they might cause then it’s a case of man management to get the best out of them.
“If we’re going to sign a player then I will always meet them and get a flavour of what they’re about and what he wants to achieve. The club has always backed me financially if I’ve wanted a particular player and I am hopeful that the squad we’ve assembled for 2010 will be competitive on all fronts.”
April 2010