To continue on from last week’s review of January 2013, it’s time to cast our gaze on February. Not traditionally a month associated with cricket, Nottinghamshire players saw a month of activity across the globe.
A healthy contingent of the Nottinghamshire squad – Alex Hales, Michael Lumb and Samit Patel joining Stuart Broad - spent time in New Zealand with the full England squad for their Twenty20 series.
They found it hard going in the second match of series, falling to 137 after being set a target of 193. Of the four Notts players involved, only Michael Lumb reached double figures.
The final match of the series, however, was a different story entirely. After restricting New Zealand to 139-8 from their 20 overs, Alex Hales and Michael Lumb took matters into their own hands in the reply, brushing the total aside in 13 overs, polished off by a Michael Lumb six hit out of the stand.
Lumb & Hales: Imperious
James Taylor captained the England Lions in Australia for a challenging series against Australia A, while Harry Gurney was also in Australia, training and playing with Bankstown in Sydney.
He had quite the weekend, scoring five-wicket hauls in two consecutive matches for the club against the University of New South Wales and Blacktown Warriors 24 hours later.
The month ended with a pre-season bowling camp in Pretoria, South Africa, ahead of the full squad's pre-season tour of Barbados.
Ajmal Shahzad in full flow
Off the field Nottinghamshire celebrated a new partnership with Experience Nottinghamshire with the summer Ashes series on the horizon, geared toward making sure that visiting cricket fans take in everything that the county has to offer.