Mick Newell is welcoming no fewer than four experienced reinforcements to his squad as Nottinghamshire face Lancashire in the Specsavers County Championship on Sunday.

Captain Chris Read, who could make his return following five weeks out with a hand injury, is joined by overseas signing Imran Tahir and the England pace duo of Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney in the 13-man party, as Notts look to climb the table with victory over the Red Rose.

Luke Fletcher is missing with a groin injury, while Jake Ball is rested and young off-spinner Matthew Carter drops out of the squad having featured in the last two matches.

A four man pace attack has very much become the norm at Trent Bridge in recent years but, having moved to bring in Tahir for the rest of the season, Newell is looking forward to the rare event of seeing spin at both ends.

“It means changing the balance of the team,” admits the Director of Cricket.

“Normally we play four or five fast bowlers, obviously now we'll only play three.

“Hopefully if the seamers do their job at the top, I see leg-spin as crucial in getting through the middle and lower order, by bamboozling the opposition with varieties they can't pick.

“We know we need to win games of cricket to get out of the trouble we're in at the moment, and we see this as a positive move to do that. 

“I can see us bowling two spinners together on a number of occasions this year, particularly the games we've got coming up away from Trent Bridge at Scarborough, Taunton and Durham,” Newell adds.

 “It's been a long time, probably since Stuart MacGill was here, since we've been be able to have that leg-spin option regularly in four-day cricket, and it's something that excites us.

“We believe Imran can take a lot of wickets for us, and it will make a big difference to how effective our bowling attack can be.

“Going for runs is almost expected of a leg-spin bowler. They're not necessarily there to keep the batsmen quiet and be tidy, that'll be Samit Patel's job.

“But leg-spinners don't necessarily need the wear on the pitch that the finger-spinners do.

“As long as there's bounce and pace in the pitch, Imran will feel he can be effective.”

Should Read, meanwhile, be passed fit to play, Newell believes his charges will benefit from the captain’s leadership every bit as much as his expertise with bat and ball.

“We've missed him hugely,” said the Director of Cricket. “We missed him this time last year for a period of weeks and when he came back it was one of the factors that improved our performances.

 “Hopefully the others players will respond to his presence in the team like they did last year.

“He's going to set a great example and the other players are going to follow - that's the key thing about his leadership and captaincy. 

“It's difficult for him being six weeks out straight back into it, but his runs are also vitally important,” added Newell.

“We're very reliant on him from that perspective, we know that. He's pulled this team out of trouble more times than I’ve had hot dinners.”

Nottinghamshire squad to face Lancashire (from): Stuart Broad, Harry Gurney, Brett Hutton, Jake Libby, Ben Kitt, Michael Lumb, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Chris Read (c), Greg Smith, Imran Tahir, Brendan Taylor and Riki Wessels.

 

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