Paul Franks has challenged Nottinghamshire’s Second XI players to demonstrate their adaptability during a week that features both Twenty20 and three-day cricket.

Franks’ side will begin with a short-form fixture against Derbyshire at Ladybay on Monday. By the following morning, they will be have relocated to Sleaford to commence a three-day fixture against Lincolnshire.

“It’s a little bit sooner than we would normally play Twenty20, but the weather has been good so that should set us up for a decent pitch over at Ladybay,” the 36-year-old said.

“That should suit the Twenty20 cricket we want to implement at Second XI level and through into the first team.

“It’s another good chance to play against Derbyshire. We like going up against those boys, so it will be a good way to start our Twenty20 campaign.

“They’ve got to get used to being able to play very flexibly. They’ve got to be able to play Twenty20, 50 over and four-day cricket all in the space of a week.

“It’s important that they can change gears mentally and then physically when they need to out in the middle. It’s a good thing for them to be adaptable.

“We had a decent hastily arranged Twenty20 friendly down in Essex last week which showed us a few good things.

“The lads were able to switch quite quickly skill wise. Hopefully we’ll see plenty of that on Monday.

“The bowlers have worked very hard over the winter, with bowling coach Andy Pick, on looking for different skills.

“He’s very clear on what he expects in limited-overs cricket and I, as captain, will be encouraging them to do that as much as possible.

“If they’re confident in what they’re trying to deliver that’s fantastic and I will back them 100 percent.”

The red ball fixture at Sleaford, meanwhile, will provide Franks and his young side with a welcome opportunity to return to winning ways following a seven-wicket defeat to Leicestershire – a match in which Franks believes a sloppy second day ultimately cost them.

“We were very good on day one, not so good on day two and there were parts of day three where we were good again,” he said.

“In run-chase situations you can often lose a game quite quickly.

“We had a bad hour and ten minutes and credit to Leicestershire, they played well, took the game away from us and we couldn’t stem the scoring.

“It was a good pitch and the margins for error for the bowlers weren’t there.

“No qualms, we played some decent cricket at times, but we weren’t good enough to get over the line.”

 

The excitement of the NatWest T20 Blast returns to Trent Bridge in May as Notts Outlaws hope to break the 10,000 barrier for the arrival of reigning champions Birmingham Bears on Friday 15 May.

Adult tickets are available at a special price of £10 and further discounts in place for under 16s (£5), under21s (£7) and senior citizens (£7) when buying in advance. Make Trent Bridge a firm fixture for your Friday nights and secure your seats now.