England fast bowler Stuart Broad has been named in Nottinghamshire’s squad for the LV= County Championship fixture against Hampshire.
Play will commence at 10:30am on Tuesday with the 29-year-old joined in the 14-man party by Billy Root, who could make his first team debut having scored 562 championship runs for the Nottinghamshire’s Seconds in 2015, averaging 56 and posting two centuries.
Off-spinner Matthew Carter and opening batsman Jake Libby are also under consideration for final selection.
Alex Hales and James Taylor do not feature ahead of their winter tour to the United Arab Emirates with England.
With Notts eager to secure second place in the table, and Hampshire aiming to stave off the threat of relegation, a competitive contest is assured in which Wayne Noon believes the young players will thrive.
“You saw with Jake Libby last year it can work throwing the young lads in to pressure situations as he faced Chris Jordan and Steve Magoffin, two of the best bowlers in the league,” the Assistant Manager said.
“Both Jake and Billy have deserved their call from the volume of runs they have scored this season and it is nice to throw them into a game that still has something riding on it. It will let us see how they react.
“The pair are likely to face two international bowlers in Fidel Edwards and Ryan McLaren so it will be a huge challenge for them.”
With Nottinghamshire sitting 12 points behind second-placed Middlesex and Hampshire fighting relegation, 16 points behind Sussex, the teams go in to the final game with plenty at stake.
Noon is urging the hosts to focus on their own game and finish strongly on the back of the a stellar second half of the season.
“Hampshire will be a seriously motivated side and whilst it didn’t go their way last week they will be fighting throughout the four days to stay in the Division,” Noon said.
“If the game goes into the final day that could work in our favour as they will be going all out to win and we could benefit.
“Credit to the backroom staff that everyone is fit and available for this big last push and we will be aiming for second place.
“We will focus on what we have to do and concentrate on our game, as we have done over the entire season and that has worked for us.
Nottinghamshire squad to face Hampshire: Jake Ball, Stuart Broad, Matt Carter, Luke Fletcher, Harry Gurney, Brett Hutton, Jake Libby, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Chris Read, Billy Root, Brendan Taylor, Riki Wessels and Luke Wood.
Hampshire squad to face Nottinghamshire: Jimmy Adams, Gareth Berg, Michael Carberry, Mason Crane, Liam Dawson, Fidel Edwards, Sean Ervine, Ryan McLaren, Will Smith, Ryan Stevenson, James Tomlinson, James Vince and Adam Wheater.
All four days of Nottinghamshire’s LV= County Championship fixture against Hampshire at Trent Bridge, as the home side aim to claim second place in the LV= County Championship, will be streamed live via the Trent Bridge Live match centre.
The 2015 season has seen dramatic last-gasp four day victories, thrilling limited-overs contests and an historic Investec Ashes Test, all in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge.
Next season, we’d wager, will be no less enthralling and frankly we’d hate for you to miss out.