Mick Newell says the Notts Outlaws will use recent experiences in 50 over cricket for motivation, as their Royal London One-Day Cup group stage concludes with a do or die double-header.

Newell’s men occupy the fourth and final quarter-final qualification place heading into matches against the Leicestershire Foxes & Worcestershire Rapids, on Sunday & Monday at Grace Road & Trent Bridge respectively.

Having won the equivalent competition at Lord’s in 2013 and then lost at the semi-final stage in the two intervening years, the Outlaws have a proud recent record to uphold.

“The group has been tight all the way through and it may well be that we need to win both matches, just to qualify in fourth place,” said Newell.

“It’s been a good tournament so far and there’ve been some highlights for us in terms of scoring 400 twice (against Northants & Warwickshire), but that’ll be forgotten if we don’t qualify.

“In the last three years we’ve had a final and two defeats, so we know how hard it is to get to the final. We know how it feels if you don’t quite make it. There’s every incentive with a long way to go and a lot of games to be won.

“The Lord’s final is a hugely attractive challenge for us and we want to have another one."

Notts’ qualification hopes hang in the balance following defeat last time out at the hands of Yorkshire, although their performance fighting back from 46-5 to take the game into a decisive final over gave Newell ample reason to remain upbeat.

“There are a lot of positives and we don’t want to get too down about it, because we’ve got important games ahead," he said.

“We made Yorkshire work very, very hard. We did a lot of good things and hopefully our confidence won’t be dented too much for the big games ahead.

“At 46-5 we could have been going home very early. I’m happy we fought as hard as we did. The loss is disappointing to take, but there are important games ahead now.”

A feature of the fightback with the bat was Steven Mullaney, who followed his unbeaten 39 from the previous game against Derbyshire with 89* that guided Notts to their competitive total of 251-9.

The 29-year-old earned praise from his Director of Cricket, not only for his recent form, but also his contribution in red and white ball cricket over seven seasons with the Club.

“There’s no doubt that Mull is highly regarded within our Club and I would imagine within county cricket as well,” said Newell.

“He’s one of those players that people look at and say: ‘I wouldn’t mind having him in our team because of what he offers across all three formats’.

“He has different roles in different teams and he does them well, without complaining and to a very high level. We’re very happy to have him in our squad.

“He’s an experienced player now because he was a brave lad who made a move from a big club (Lancashire) to another big club (Nottinghamshire) back in 2010.

“We were very keen to get hold of him and he’s become a regular in our side across all three formats – and that’s because of hard work and his desire to be the best county cricketer he can be.

“That’s a good example to lots of other players; be the best you can be and you can do exceptionally well in county cricket.”

 

Notts Outlaws squad to face Leicestershire Foxes and Worcestershire (from): Dan Christian, Luke Fletcher, Harry Gurney,  Ben Kitt, Jake Libby, Michael Lumb, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Chris Read, Greg Smith, Brendan Taylor, Riki Wessels and Luke Wood.