Mark Ealham is confident he’ll be fit to make his return to the Nottinghamshire side for their crucial Championship meeting with Northamptonshire.

LV County Championship Division Two
August 22-25: Notts v Northants
Start time: 11am
Tickets cost £12 for adults and £6 for concessions.

The veteran all-rounder has been forced on the sidelines with a hamstring injury for the past three weeks, but played in the one-day friendly against Cricket Victoria Emerging Players on Tuesday as a fitness test.

And barring any reaction, the 37-year-old will line up against Northants as second-placed Notts bid to increase their lead on the chasing pack.

Said Ealham: “The rehab work has been coming along and fingers crossed, I should be fit to play.

“This is the first hamstring injury of my career, so I’ve had to take a bit of guidance from Craig Smith on how to deal with it, but I’m pretty confident.”

Director of Cricket Mick Newell has been able to return to his usual balance of five batsmen and five bowlers, after being forced by injuries to field only four bowlers in the defeat to Somerset two weeks ago.

He has since signed seamer Mark Davies from Durham on loan for a month, while New Zealand all-rounder Andre Adams has come in to replace David Hussey, who is away on international duty with Australia A.

Squad:
Gallian, Jefferson, Wagh, Fleming (capt), Patel, Read (wkt), Ealham, Swann, Adams, Davies, Harris, Shreck, Clough.