Nottinghamshire head to Edgbaston on Sunday (11am start) for the start of their LV= County Championship match against Warwickshire.
Following their successive home wins Notts now sit level on points with leaders Yorkshire at the top of the First Division table. The Tykes don’t play this week so there is a really good opportunity to open a gap at the summit.
Opponents Warwickshire, beaten inside 3 days by Yorkshire this week, currently sit in 6th spot with an even record after nine matches, winning, drawing and losing three times.
Head To Head
There have been 51 previous meetings between the sides at first class level in Birmingham, with the initial contest taking place way back in 1894.
The overall record shows the home side with 16 victories, Nottinghamshire have 10 wins, with 24 draws and one no result.
In overall meetings the sides have met on 130 occasions, with Nottinghamshire boasting a winning record of 40 successes to Warwickshire’s 32. One match was abandoned without a ball being bowled and the other 57 have been drawn.
Since doing the double over the Bears in 2010, Notts have failed to win any of the 7 matches played since. Three have been drawn and four lost, including the last two meetings.
Last Time
Nottinghamshire were defeated by 216 when they visited Edgbaston last July.
The home side rattled up a colossal 453 in their first innings, boosted by a seventh wicket stand of 199 between Laurie Evans, who made 178, and Ateeq Javid, who scored 83.
Although James Taylor scored 80, the reply only produced 217, with Jeetan Patel taking four for 60.
Warwickshire didn’t enforce the follow-on and plundered 180-6 before declaring, setting Notts to score 417 in almost four sessions.
The chase didn’t really get off the ground and Notts again succumbed to Patel, who took four for 68, in being bowled out for 210.
History
Past meetings at Edgbaston have featured some unusual occurrences – none more so than the 1931 clash. Aged 52, Notts batsman George Gunn scored 183 and his son, 26-year-old George Vernon Gunn, made 100 not out, his maiden century for the county. It is the only instance of father and son scoring hundreds in the same innings.
One of the most curious results of all-time came in 1946 when Nottinghamshire put together a seven-wicket victory, despite being bowled out for just 135 in their first innings. What makes it all the more remarkable is that all ten of those wickets fell to Eric Hollies, who ended with 10-46 and still finished on the losing side.
In 2000, Nottinghamshire’s openers broke the county first-wicket record at Edgbaston by putting on an undefeated 406. Guy Welton made 200 not out, with Darren Bicknell unbeaten on 180.
In 2001 Warwickshire won by 139 runs. As Notts subsided to a second innings collapse they were helped on their way by a spell of 3-1-3-3 by Mark Wagh – later to move to Notts – whose victims included Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen had a better time of it two years later and made 221 not out - one run more than Chris Lewis scored in the 1994 fixture on the same ground.
KP’s double was complemented by a Chris Cairns century as Notts powered on to 646, their highest total in Birmingham, although in 1928 they hit 656 for 3 declared in an away match against Warwickshire, played at the Butts Ground in Coventry.
Three Notts players have made their first class debuts at Edgbaston – John Howarth, Peter Plummer and Bobby Chapman, whilst Warwickshire’s Keith Barker made his initial appearance in the 2009 game.
Four seasons ago Stuart Broad’s second innings figures of 8-52 propelled his side to a 10-wicket victory and completed a home and away ‘double’ during Nottinghamshire’s championship-winning year.
Three years ago Alex Hales carried his bat in scoring 106 not out as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 222 in their second innings.
The right-hander wasn’t the first to carry his bat for Notts at Edgbaston. That honour fell to his current director of cricket.
Mick Newell, though, was left stranded on just 10 in the 1988 fixture as Notts were dismissed for only 44 in their second innings to lose by 161 runs.
Hales has scored two centuries at Edgbaston and currently averages 117.75 on the ground, with 471 runs scored in 7 innings, three of them being not outs.
Played For Them Both
Dilip Doshi made his Nottinghamshire debut against the touring West Indians in 1973. The bespectacled slow left-arm spinner made an early impression, claiming the wickets of Lawrence Rowe, Clive Lloyd and Bernard Julien during his first bowl.
Doshi, born in Rajkot in 1947, went on to make 44 first class appearances for Notts, taking 157 wickets at 29.22 apiece, with a best of 6-33.
He joined Warwickshire for the 1980 and 1981 campaigns and took 146 wickets in 43 matches for them.
In 33 Test matches Doshi also bagged 114 wickets at an average of just above 30.
Amongst the other players to have turned out for both Notts and Warwickshire are Deryck Murray, Eddie Hemmings, Vasbert Drakes, Anurag Singh and Mark Wagh.
Stats
Highest Team Total:
Notts: 656-3 dec (The Butts Ground, Coventry 1928)
Warwicks: 574-7 dec (Edgbaston 2011)
Lowest Team Total:
Notts: 34 (Griff and Coton Ground, Nuneaton 1964)
Warwicks: 49 (Edgbaston 1981)
Highest Individual Score:
Notts: 232* DJ Hussey (Trent Bridge 2005)
Warwicks: 253 RB Kanhai (Trent Bridge 1968)
Best Innings Bowling:
Notts: 8-52 SCJ Broad (Edgbaston 2010)
Warwicks: 10-49 WE Hollies (Edgbaston 1946)
Milestones
Chris Read is closing in on a number of significant milestones in his career. The fixture will be his 302nd first class match and sees him go into it on:
899 first class catches
946 first class dismissals
825 first class dismissals for Notts, four behind Bruce French
In addition, the following players are nearing landmarks:
This match will be Phil Jaques’ 200th first class match
This match will be Harry Gurney’ 50th first class match. He has taken 94 first class wickets for Notts.
Alex Hales has scored 3955 first class runs
Ajmal Shahzad has taken 196 first class wickets
Tickets
For information on ground admission, car parking and any other queries please check the official Warwickshire CCC website
Coverage
BBC Radio Nottingham will be providing ball-by-ball on-line commentary, via the BBC Sport website.