Steven Mullaney admitted to being surprised to see what he called a “phenomenal” crowd for Saturday’s seven-wicket victory over the Northamptonshire Steelbacks, the latest in a succession of bumper attendances at Trent Bridge.
And the 28-year-old is determined to continue rewarding the members and supporters for their loyalty with victory over the Worcestershire Rapids on Friday night.
“Coming off the back of a disappointing result in the four day game against Yorkshire, getting beaten in the Twenty20 up there and losing the derby game against Derbyshire on Friday, it was a massive result for us against Northants,” Mullaney said.
“The biggest disappointment at the minute is that we’re not showing how good we actually are. We know we’re good enough to compete and to go all the way in the NatWest T20 Blast.
“We showed glimpses of it on Saturday when we played really well and got two points. Hopefully that can kickstart us going into this Friday.
“I came to the ground with Harry Gurney for the match. It was a Saturday, it was on TV, there was club cricket going on and I told Harry I was only expecting a few in the ground.
“To see ten thousand there was absolutely phenomenal, especially with the way we had been playing prior to that game.
“It was great for us to see how much support we got. We really do appreciate it and it’s a credit to the supporters for showing belief in us. Hopefully we repaid them on the day and we can keep repaying them during the rest of the season.”
Mullaney, who has played all nine of the Outlaws’ NatWest T20 Blast fixtures to date, insists he's focussing solely on winning five matches, rather that studying the league table ahead of Friday’s fixture against the Rapids.
“I’ve not looked at it in that much detail,” he said. “If we win all five we’ll definitely qualify, I’m looking at it like that.
“We can probably lose one, but we just have to take it game-by-game and try to win every game.
“We’ve got some tricky matches, we’ve got to go to Old Trafford and Durham which are hard places to go, but I’m confident that, if we play to our ability, we should win all five games.”
Notts Outlaws won the reverse fixture against the West Midlands outfit by 11 runs back in early June having posted 169-5.
Darren Sammy was the star of the batting effort with 36 off 16 balls, an explosive role that Mullaney believes Dan Christian can fulfil when the teams meet again on Friday.
“Worcestershire are very good,” Mullaney said. “They’ve got dangerous players. They’ve got Saeed Ajmal playing, who is a proven world-class spinner, and they’re on a high. They’ve had some good wins and they’re up at the top of the table.
“We got one over them at in the away fixture, which is obviously a bonus.
“We lost two wickets that day, but Mick has given us the freedom to play our shots and express ourselves - and Darren’s innings was phenomenal; it got us to a decent total, which we went out and defended.
“A positive for us is that Dan Christian hasn’t really batted yet. He got run out once and caught & bowled at Headingley when he absolutely smoked one.
“I’ve not seen him bat in the nets myself, but all reports are that he’s striking the ball beautifully an it’s a matter of time before he gets in and showcases what he can do, something that can only bode well for us.”
Mullaney believes the Notts victory assault will be aided by the absence of Moeen Ali, who is away on the pre-Ashes training camp with England. He remains wary, however, of former Derbyshire big-hitter Ross Whiteley, who scored 36 from 18 balls in the game at New Road and threatened to take the game away from the Outlaws.
“It weakens any side when their best players aren’t playing, so it’s a bonus for us and something we’ll look to exploit early with the new ball,” said Mullaney in response to a question about Ali.
“He’s a proven world-class cricketer so I wish him all the best, but I’m not that bothered that he’s not playing.
“They have other quality players in their line-up. We know how dangerous Ross is and we could have been a bit smarter against him in the game down there, maybe bowling wide yorkers and staying on one side of the wicket.
“He has a few days out a year and that was one of them, but we’ll have better plans when he gets in this weekend and hopefully we can execute them better.
“Overall, if we play anywhere near our potential, our best will be too good for Worcestershire.”
Notts Outlaws NatWest T20 Blast Fixtures & Ticket Information
v Worcestershire Rapids – Friday 3 July 6.30pm BUY TICKETS
v Derbyshire Falcons – Friday 10 July 6.30pm BUY TICKETS
Need more information? Call our ticket office on 0844 8118711.