There can’t have been too many cricket competitions over the years where the same player has lifted the man of the match award in winning quarter final, semi final and final matches.
But that’s exactly what Steven Mullaney achieved to help Notts Outlaws to Barbados T20 Cup success at the weekend.
The all-rounder was nailed on for the award when he scored 116 against the Birmingham Bears on the first day, then took 4-22 against Combined Campuses and Colleges in the last four.
Although captain Riki Wessels made an undefeated 59 in the final, the judges again gave it to Mullaney for his miserly spell of 2-15, followed by 16 runs in the successful chase.
“It was very nice to start the tour well and I enjoyed spending time up the top of the order,” he revealed. “That might be a bit limited this year with so many players vying for a place, but it was nice to hopefully give Mick (Newell) a bit of a headache.
“And then with the ball, the wickets suited my sort of bowling, so I just tried to do what I’ve done in England over and over and luckily this week it came off.”
The irony is that his performances came after there’d been a doubt about whether he would take part due to illness. His century, against a near full strength Birmingham Bears attack, proved there were no after effects
“I struggled a little bit with a throat infection and a bit of fever but after a couple of days I was fine and glad I could play.
“One of the pleasing things was that apart from Jeetan Patel, Warwickshire fielded pretty much a first choice attack. That’s one of the things I’ll take as a positive from it.
"Obviously hundreds don’t come around very often in T20, so I’ll remember it even though it was in a pre-season competition. I was really pleased with the way I played.”
A key component in Notts’ white ball unit, the 28-year old is hoping he might be used a little more in LV= County Championship cricket this season.
“It’s coming out nicely at the moment, even more so with the red ball. I’ve been working hard with Andy Pick, the bowling coach, over the winter,” he said.
“We’ve been away on a bowling camp and I’ve worked on a few things, like a little bit more pace, a lot more accuracy and hopefully it’ll give Ready (Chris Read) another option in the four day stuff as we go into the season.”
The final match of the tour, a two-day fixture against Hampshire starting today, is now being played as Isolation Cavaliers Cricket Club at Lakes in St Andrew Parish on the eastern side of the Island.
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