Barbados Gallery
After his match-winning 53 not out against Yorkshire in the Barbados T20 Cup, Steven Mullaney made the most of the opening day of the friendly fixture against Derbyshire by posting a century.
The 26-year old spoke of his satisfaction at another lengthy time in the middle.
“I think it has helped having a full winter playing in Australia and I’ve come back in decent form,” said Mullaney.
“It’s always going to be tough breaking into our strong batting line-up but all I can do is my best whenever I get the opportunity.”
"It was nice to spend some time in the middle and get used to the red ball again. I'm just delighted with how the tour has gone so far."
Mullaney scored 101 before retiring, his innings consisting of just 104 balls faced and he hit seven fours and seven sixes.
“I feel in decent nick after my time playing in Melbourne,” he said.
“I think I’m used to playing on grass rather than in the indoor nets so I’m used to seeing the ball swing and move about a little bit. I think the winter away has helped me massively and I feel I’m ready to go.”
After beginning the tour with a second-ball duck against Northants, the former Lancashire batsman came good in the weekend’s knock-out competition, playing a match-winning innings in the semi final and then hitting the winning six in the final.
“I’ve just been trying to do the stuff I’d been doing throughout the winter, with the coach I’d worked with in Australia. I’m just trying to shut out the situation I’m in and play how I practice and it’s worked so far.”
Mullaney scored a century on his championship debut for Notts in 2010 but hasn’t followed it up with a second one since, despite twice reaching the nineties and knows that breaking into Mick Newell’s top order isn’t going to be easy again this summer.
“All I can do is score runs and put my name in the hat and see what happens. If I get picked I get picked, if I don’t I’ll just try and keep scoring runs and put my case forward for whenever someone gets injured or has a loss of form. I need to make sure I’m ready.”
His innings against Derbyshire included some monster blows as he cleared the ropes on seven occasions knowing that he had a race against time.
“I was in the fifties at tea and knew I only had about ten more to bat as it was necessary to give all the lads some practice, so I kicked on and luckily it came off. It was nice to spend some time in the middle and get used to the red ball again. I'm just delighted with how the tour has gone so far.”