Mick Newell refused to suggest thatGloucestershire had done anything untoward after the LV County Championshipmatch at Trent Bridge ended in a draw.

Notts 400-8 declared (Hussey 180, Wagh 74,Read 52)
Gloucestershire 0-0 declared

Match drawn
Notts 9 points, Gloucestershire 6 points
Scorecard

With only 32 overs of play possible on dayfour due to a wet outfield, Notts raced to 400 to secure maximum batting pointsand immediately with 11 further overs still to bowl.

The objective was to try and claim as manyGloucestershire wickets as possible in that time and possibly gather a bowlingbonus point.

Instead Gloucestershire captain Jon Lewisdeclared his first innings closed after his openers had faced just one ball,denying Notts that opportunity and bringing the match to a close.

With every point likely to prove crucial inthe promotion race, Notts are still second in Division Two to Somerset, but haveplayed a game more than Essex and Northants in third and fourth and two morethan Middlesex and Derbyshire below them.

But Newell said: "You can't have a go atGloucestershire for declaring. It's one of those idiosyncrasies in cricket andquite frankly we hadn't even thought of it.

"Fair play to them really, they had nothingto gain from the situation and we didn't see it coming."

Notts have now drawn four and lost one oftheir last five Championship matches - with all the fixtures heavily affectedby rain - and Newell admitted the team are losing points at an important time.

"The momentum is going out of the seasonand it's certainly affected our Championship form of late.

"But it's not as if we're playing badcricket when we're batting and bowling, it's just a case of getting out there."

Rain washed out all of day one and forced adelayed start on day two, but Jason Gallian's 45 and a fine 74 from Mark Wagh -his seventh score of 50 or more in his last eight Championship innings - gaveNotts a solid start.

That set the platform for David Hussey(pictured) to compile his third hundred of the season and become the firstplayer to pass 1,000 Championship runs for the summer.

More rain arrived for day three, leavingthe ground saturated once again, before play was finally able to begin at 4pm onthe final day.

Still 129 short of maximum batting points,Hussey launched yet another assault on the opposition bowlers, firing six sixesin all and showing his eye was well and truly set for the Twenty20 Cupquarter-final.

Chris Read also passed 50 while Mark Ealhammade 23 to push Notts to the vital score, before the early finish.