Nottinghamshire have included Michael Lumb, Ben Hilfanhaus and 19-year-old off-spinner Matthew Carter in the 13-man squad to face Somerset at Taunton.
The return of Lumb following surgery on an arm injury bolsters a Nottinghamshire batting line-up shy of Alex Hales and James Taylor who are on international duty with England.
Hilfenhaus, a former Australia pace bowler, has replaced Vernon Philander as overseas player for the remainder of the season and has already featured for his new county in two NatWest T20 Blast fixtures.
Carter, a product of the Club’s Academy and brother of fast bowler Andrew, could be in line for his first-class debut, while Riki Wessels is set to captain the side in a competitive fixture for the first time.
The 29-year-old, who will also keep wicket, was recently announced as next in line for the job with Chris Read injured and James Taylor selected by England for the Royal London One-Day Series against New Zealand.
The temporary skipper will not have the services to call upon of Harry Gurney, who misses out with a hamstring injury. Stuart Broad is also absent from the squad following consultation with the ECB in relation to his pre-Ashes schedule. The England paceman is expected to play in the next LV= County Championship fixture against Yorkshire.
“This is a huge challenge for us without two of our senior batsmen and without the captain of the club,” said Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell.
“We’ll have some young faces out there but hopefully they’re full of confidence with the way they’re playing at the moment.
“It was a really good performance in the last game against Sussex on a pitch that suited seam bowling.
“The challenges down at Taunton may be completely different; we’ll assess that when we get there.
“We’ll have a look at the pitch, have a look at the right balance of team, we’ve got Ben Hilfenhaus to come in as well, so people will get left out who maybe have had a decent game last time out.”
Newell revealed that Lumb will slot into the middle-order as Nottinghamshire aim to avenge the 133 run defeat against the west country club at Trent Bridge last month.
“Lumby will play at Taunton and we’ll probably start him off at number four,” confirmed Newell.
“Everybody knows we’re short of batsmen with no James Taylor and no Alex Hales.
“T20 cricket on Friday wasn’t the right vehicle to bring him back given the length of time he’s been out.
“He’s had quite a serious operation on his top hand, his batting hand, so we preferred to get him ready to start his comeback with the more gentle pace of four day cricket.”
The Director of Cricket revealed that the conditions he expects to encounter at Taunton influenced the decision to select Matthew Carter – and insisted that the teenager, whose experience includes 23 minor counties fixtures for Lincolnshire, has earned his place with good performances in Nottinghamshire’s second string.
“With the conditions we’re expecting down at Taunton, we feel that we need to take another spinner, said Newell.
“Matthew has been around the squad since the pre-season tour and he’s performed well in the second team to earn this opportunity.”
On his new temporary captain, Newell says it’s performances on the field that have helped Wessels command the respect of the players.
“I think he’s in a good position now to take on some more responsibility,” explained Newell.
“He is a very good player for one thing; he’s done a very good job for us batting in the middle-order, he’s taken on the wicket-keeping role too, and we believe very strongly that he’s the right man tactically to lead the team.
“He has the respect of the other players through his ability and his calmness around the match.
“His batting really kicked on last year, he scored very heavily and he’s a terrific player for us in all forms of the game.
“With that comes the opportunity to take more responsibility. I'm sure he’ll relish it.”
Nottinghamshire 13-man squad to face Somerset (from): Jake Ball, Matthew Carter, Will Gidman, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brett Hutton, Michael Lumb, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Greg Smith, Brendan Taylor, Riki Wessels, Luke Wood and Sam Wood.
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