Nottinghamshire begin their LV= County Championship programme on Sunday when they face Middlesex at Lord’s.
Both counties have enjoyed similar preparations in the build-up to the new campaign. Warm weather training for Notts was undertaken in Barbados, whereas Middlesex went to Abu Dhabi.
Each county then played a number of practice matches before this week’s MCCU fixtures.
Last season Notts finished fourth in the Division One table, with Middlesex ending in seventh spot, after narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day of the campaign.
Riki Wessels and Samit Patel were the only two Nottinghamshire players to pass 1,000 runs in the championship, whilst Harry Gurney and Luke Fletcher were the leading wicket-takers, with 38 apiece.
Wessels, Patel and captain Chris Read were the only three from the county to appear in all 16 championship matches in 2014.
Head To Head
Nottinghamshire versus Middlesex is one of county cricket’s most established fixtures, having first been played in 1866.
In first-class competition there have been a total of 224 meetings, with the southern county having had the better of things.
Middlesex’s victory at Lord’s last season was their 77th win in the series of matches. Nottinghamshire won the reverse fixture, at Trent Bridge, to record their 56th victory over the side from the capital.
89 other matches have been drawn, whilst two matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled.
This week’s match will be the 104th to be staged at Lord’s between the two rivals, with Middlesex shading the head-to-head record with 43 wins to 27, with 32 draws and the two wash-outs.
Last Meeting
Honours were shared in the two LV= County Championship meetings last season with each county winning their home fixture.
Nottinghamshire’s 6-wicket win at Trent Bridge, last June, came after they’d been challenged to chase down 385 on the last day. It went some way to repairing the scars left by a heavy defeat at Lord’s.
Notts had already defeated Lancashire by the time they headed off to face Middlesex in their first away match of 2014.
Australian Peter Siddle made his Nottinghamshire debut in the contest, after visa issues had delayed his arrival. James Taylor had recovered from the slight knock that had forced him out of the opener.
Taylor’s 62 was the top score as the visitors posted 326, although Steven Mullaney and Riki Wessels also passed 50 before falling to Steven Finn, who took 5-91.
Middlesex were able to build up a healthy lead, allowing Chris Rogers to declare on 439-9, with Sam Robson’s 163 making him a shoe-in for the forthcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
John Simpson weighed in with 108 after Eoin Morgan had fallen for 86.
Second time around Notts could only make 224, Tim Murtagh picking up five for 61 and Finn getting four of the other wickets to finish with 9 in the match.
Rogers, with 63 and Robson with 41, made short work of chasing 111 to inflict an emphatic 10-wicket defeat on Chris Read’s side.
History
The 1927 fixture at Lord’s between Middlesex and Notts was the first ever championship match to have ball-by-ball commentary. Listeners heard Pelham Warner’s description of an opening day that saw Notts make 381, before the home side closed on 44-0. The remaining two days weren’t covered but ended with a ten-wicket success for Nottinghamshire.
Nottinghamshire’s highest-ever individual score came against Middlesex, when Walter Keeton made an undefeated 312 in 1939, in a match played at The Oval.
The highest score made by Richard Hadlee during his 342 first-class matches came at Lord’s in 1984 when he reached 210 not out for Nottinghamshire against Middlesex. He had come to the crease with his side in strife, at 17-4, and produced a master-class, from 261 deliveries faced. The New Zealand all-rounder batted for 356 minutes, scoring 24 fours and one six. Turning the game on its head, Notts won by an innings with Kevin Cooper taking career-best figures of 8-44 in Middlesex’s second effort.
South Africa’s Lance Klusener earned a deserved reputation for hard-hitting and quick scoring. Sadly, those qualities weren’t allowed to shine in his first championship appearance for Nottinghamshire in 2002, as he was clean bowled by Middlesex’s Simon Cook for a seven-ball 0 at Lord’s.
Klusener did make 42 in the second innings – and took 1-88 with the ball, although it was his only first-class appearance during a short-term registration.
Russell Warren scored five centuries for Nottinghamshire in 36 first-class matches, with two coming in the same fixture. Against Middlesex at Lord’s in 2003, he made 123 in the first innings and an unbeaten 113 in the second, to become the 19th different player to achieve the feat for the county.
Last season, ahead of the fixture in April, all playing members of the Nottinghamshire side, plus scorer Roger Marshall, were presented with commemorative medallions to celebrate Lord’s 200th anniversary.
Played For Them Both
A significant number of players have represented both counties over the years, with three of them likely to play a part in this match.
Adam Voges is expected to lead Middlesex, before going off to represent Australia in their forthcoming Test series’ against the West Indies and England. The right-handed batsman enjoyed several seasons on the Trent Bridge staff, highlighted by his century against Lancashire at Old Trafford which helped clinch the 2010 LV= County Championship title.
One of his charges this week is likely to be James Franklin, making his Middlesex debut after several appearances for Notts last summer. The captain of Wellington, he will be available to Middlesex all summer after closing the door on his international career with New Zealand.
Nottinghamshire’s new overseas bowler, Vernon Philander, enjoyed a brief stint with this week’s opponents in 2008. The South African played 3 first class and 5 one-day matches for Middlesex in 2008.
Others to have turned out for both Notts and Middlesex include Mike Harris, Bob White, Harry Latchman, Lance Klusener, David Alleyne, Dirk Nannes, Scott Newman and Stephen Fleming.
Stats
Nottinghamshire’s highest team score at Lord’s came as recently as 2006, when they racked up 642-9 declared, with 3 centurions in the line-up. Stephen Fleming made 192, Samit Patel 156 and Will Smith 141.
That was the last occasion when Notts won a championship match at Lord’s.
Middlesex’s highest score at Lord’s v Notts came in 1921 when they posted 612-8 declared.
Arthur Shrewsbury’s unbeaten 224 in 1885 is the highest individual score by a Nottinghamshire batsman on the ground and the same player scored 212 there seven years later.
The only other Notts player to score a double hundred at St John’s Wood is Richard Hadlee (above), who made 210 not out in 1984.
Fred Morley’s 8-36 in 1880 are the best figures by a Notts’ bowler at Lord’s.
Nottinghamshire duo, John Gunn in 1899 and Charlie Shreck in 2006, are the only two bowlers to take hat-tricks in the fixtures
Of particular interest this week, former MCC Young Cricketer Alex Hales has still to play a first class match at Lord’s, although he has picked up a one-day winner’s medal and scored a one-day hundred on the ground.
New recruits Brendan Taylor and Will Gidman have also yet to play first-class cricket at Lord’s, although another newcomer, Vernon Philander, was man of the match when South Africa beat England on the ground in 2012.
One To Watch
Nottinghamshire will renew acquaintances with Nick Compton this week, a batsman who has often made the most of his opportunities against Chris Read’s side.
Compton, who began his career at Lord’s, returns to his first county in 2015 after five years with Somerset. The 31-year old, who featured in 9 Test matches for England during 2012 and 2013, has a career average of 64.76 from 11 first class matches against Notts. His run of high scores includes 3 centuries, with a best of 204 not out, which came at Trent Bridge in 2012.
Milestones
Nottinghamshire players approaching significant career milestones this week are:
James Taylor: Has played 198 first class innings.
Samit Patel: Needs one more catch for 100 in first-class cricket (currently 89 for Notts, 8 for the Lions and 2 for England). He has also taken 199 first-class wickets for Nottinghamshire.
Chris Read: Has scored 12,997 first class runs for Notts
Will Gidman: Has taken 194 first class wickets
Harry Gurney: Has taken 147 first class wickets
Tickets
Ticket prices for this match are displayed on the Middlesex County Cricket Club website.
Adult admission for the first 3 days is £17.00, Over 65s admission is £8.50 and Under 16s can gain access for £5.00. On the fourth day adult admission is £5.00, with everyone else able to gain free admission.
Coverage
There will be on-line ball-by-ball commentary of this and every other Nottinghamshire match this season, provided by BBC Radio Nottingham. Access the link via the BCC Sport website.
Follow the action via regular updates and live scorecard at Trent Bridge Live.
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.