Nottinghamshire, who began their Specsavers County Championship campaign with a three-wicket victory over Surrey, are set to bolstered by the return of Stuart Broad against Lancashire.
Broad, who leads the world’s Test bowling rankings following series wining heroics for England against Australia and South Africa, joins a pace bowling unit already comprising the in-form quartet of Brett Hutton, Jake Ball, Jackson Bird and Harry Gurney.
Mick Newell, who recently allowed Luke Fletcher to join Derbyshire on loan, admits the pace bowling stocks provide him with a selection dilemma, but insists it’s a happy headache.
“All four of our bowlers came out of the Surrey game very, very well,” said the Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket.
“They all took wickets and they all produced spells at different times that were match changing.
“We’re very pleased with all four of them and the fact that we can add Stuart to that for the weekend makes that group even stronger.
“We’re still going to need fit and firing fast bowlers when Stuart and Jackson are long gone back to their national teams, right up to the last games in September,” Newell continued.
“The players understand that there are three formats of cricket and we’re going to need each of them across six months of the season. There will be someone who won’t play on Sunday and will be disappointed, but the players are mature enough to understand.
“They want to play all formats and we need them for six months, not just six weeks.”
With Emirates Old Trafford renowned as a surface helpful to the spinners bowling, Newell has added 19-year-old off-spinner Matthew Carter to the squad, and believes Nottinghamshire have the personnel and strategy to cope with any conditions.
“Their wickets can be very dry, although I’m not sure if the weather has been conducive to that,” he said.
“If it’s dry there’ll be a toss. If it’s wet, damp, or moist there won’t be a toss because we’ll have a bowl.
“That’s something for us to make a decision about on Sunday morning, but it’s about how we play whatever happens.
“Before the Surrey game we talked a lot about how well we had trained, how we were prepared and what a good place we were in.
“We just about managed to prove that, although it was a nervy run chase in what would have been a terrible game to lose; now it’s important that we carry that forward to the next game.”
Nottinghamshire squad to face Lancashire (from): Chris Read, Jake Ball, Jackson Bird, Stuart Broad, Matt Carter, Harry Gurney, Brett Hutton, Michael Lumb, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Greg Smith, Brendan Taylor and Riki Wessels.