Mick Newell has praised the cricket facilities in Barbados as Nottinghamshire prepare to visit the island for a pre-season tour.
The Outlaws will depart for what has become an established destination in recent years, and the Director of Cricket expects the arrangement to continue for many pre-seasons to come.
“We’ve had four trips now, they’ve all been brilliantly well organised, accommodation has been good and the number one thing is the quality of the cricket facilities.
“We have had no complaints at all about any of the cricket facilities. The match pitches and the training facilities we have been given are spot on.
“That is the number one priority. If they weren’t of a standard that was good enough for our first team players to practice on, we wouldn’t go.
“Four years, no issues at all in terms of cricket facilities and – as long as that remains the case and the price remains good – we’re more than happy to go out there.”
With Jake Ball’s form on the 2015 tour propelling him into a position he never relinquished within the first team, Barbados is where the competition for places really begins.
“I’m not big on talking, said Newell. “Let’s go out there and play & practice.
“Out of ten or 11 working days, half of them will be match play, half of them will be training and maybe one day off.
“We’re not there for that long and we need to crack on while we are there.
“From a batting perspective, we are expecting to lose players to international cricket if Hales and Taylor stay in the international squads.
“That’s opening up two spots in the four-day team straight away and we expect to see a scrap for places.
“From a bowling perspective, hopefully we’ll have a bit of Stuart Broad early season – and we’ve got Peter Siddle – so there’s obviously some competition going on for the places in the team alongside them.
“That’s got to be a healthy thing and I look forward to seeing how they stack up against each other.”
Supporters can register their interest in joining Nottinghamshire on their pre-season tour of Barbados, which will take place from 10-21 March 2016, by completing a short form here.