Having won promotion back to the first division of the Royal London One-Day Cup, Nottinghamshire’s Women begin their return to the top flight with a double header over the Bank Holiday Weekend.
Led by Sonia Odedra and boosted by the winter signings of Jodie Dibble, Lucy Higham and Megan Burton, the side begin their season on Sunday 30 April against Sussex, followed the next day with a match against Kent.
Head coach Martyn Kiel says that spirits in the camp are high as they look to secure their future in the top tier.
“There’s a lot of excitement but there’s also a lot of apprehension, which is the nerves.
“We’ve got to embrace that challenge, be positive and think about what we’re going to do. It’s about not worrying about the other sides around us,” he said.
“We’ve got to play to our strengths and look after the things that we can control, rather than getting bogged down in our opposition.
“Hopefully we can control the nerves and the emotions and play the best cricket we can.
“Essentially we’ve brought four players in; two spinning all-rounders, an opening bat and a wicketkeeper/bat.
“They’ve blended in quite nicely and will be in contention for selection over the weekend,” he said.
“It makes selection for the weekend quite tough, which is a nice position to be in, rather than thinking ‘how are we going to get 12?’.
“We’ve got a squad of 18 and to get 12 from that, there’s some really good questions that have got to be asked. There’s some real competition for the different playing roles within the starting XI.”
Despite the new domestic signings, Notts were unable to secure the services of any overseas players for the upcoming season due to visa difficulties.
“The only frustrating issue we’ve had is with guidance around immigration. The two overseas players we had lined up have not made the trip.
“One was actually in the country when she was told her visa was invalid.
“That’s probably the one gap in the squad, but it does present an opportunity for someone else to stand up and be counted.”
Odedra believes the success achieved in gaining promotion in 2016 is the best possible way to limber up for the new campaign.
“We just want to carry on the rhythm we started last season," she said.
"We won all our matches apart from one, so the aim is to continue that into the new campaign.
"It’s going to be a challenge, but our aim is to finish around the top of the table and looking at our team, it is possible.”
“We’ve had a good winter and, hopefully, all the hard work will pay off."
Nottinghamshire’s Women would be delighted to count on your support at Notts Sports Ground over the Bank Holiday weekend. Entry is free of charge with an 11am start on both Sunday and Monday.