Paul Franks is challenging Nottinghamshire’s youngsters to put down a marker by winning their Premier League fixture against Kimberley tomorrow.
The Academy side began their season last week with an unfortunate draw against Ordsall Bridon, where bad light stopped play with only two runs required for victory.
Franks extracted plenty of positives from the performance ahead of this weekend’s fixture at Lady Bay.
“On a wicket with a little bit in it, it was a good toss to win against Bridon and we bowled nicely at times,” he said.
“A couple of rain showers halted progress when we were going quite nicely, which allowed Bridon to regroup a little bit and - fair play to them – 209-9 was a competitive score.
“It was, however, a score I was confident we could have chased down and we would have done so had the elements not closed in and curtailed the game.
“All things considered, it was a pretty decent first week out, and I’m looking forward to this coming weekend against an excellent club – one that’s been established as one of the backbone sides of Nottinghamshire club cricket for many years.
“They’ve got a young side, so plenty of peers for our young lads to play against and a lot of good friendships within the game.
“They’ll get put to one side tomorrow and we’ll be looking to get our first win of the season.
“There were one-or-two upsets in the league last week where one-or-two of the fancied teams got beaten.
“We can really put a marker down tomorrow by collecting 20 points.”
For many players in the Nottinghamshire team, Saturday will constitute a sixth day of cricket in a week following a busy period of Second XI action; all part of the challenge according to Franks who is, as ever, asking for high standards from his charges.
“They were given a day off on Friday to recharge their batteries and come back strong,” revealed Franks.
“For those getting selected for the Second XI, they’ve got another busy week next week as well and it’s very competitive cricket too.
“What I’m looking for this weekend is a bit of polish. Last week on a difficult outfield, we didn’t field great and I’m also looking for a little more tidiness around the extra count.
“Aside from that, if someone can stand-up and make a hundred with the bat, or take four or five wickets with the ball, that would be a really good starting point.”
Nottinghamshire CCC Academy team to face Kimberley: Anuj Dal, Joe New, Connor Marshall, Adam Tillcock, Tom Keast, Simon Webster, Paul Franks, Simon Walton, Elliott Bowles Jake Tong, Reicko Parker-Cole and Ben Kitt (12th Man)