James Pattinson is set to be available for Notts Outlaws’ mouth-watering Royal London One-Day Cup final against Surrey at Lord’s on Saturday 1 July.
The Australian paceman’s spell at Trent Bridge was poised to come to an end after the Club’s Specsavers County Championship home day-night game with Kent next week (26 to 29 July).
However, now the Outlaws have qualified for the showpiece occasion thanks to victory over Essex on Friday night, the 27-year-old will be extending his stay in England for an extra few days.
“James is contracted to stay with us until after the final, and we’re very excited about that,” said Assistant Head Coach Paul Franks.
“It’s what we aimed for when he came to join us, so we’re delighted that it’s turned out that way. I know, having spoken to James on Friday, he’s keen to finish with us very strongly, both in the final and the County Championship matches.
“James has been excellent. We knew what we were getting in terms of what he would bring to the changing room and the team as a whole, and the way he’s played his cricket has excited the fans and his team-mates.
“He only knows one way to play and that is up front and getting on with it, and we’ve responded well to that approach as a team.”
"From our point of view we’d loves James to come back in August, of course we would, but he’s got a lot to work through with Cricket Australia." Assistant Head Coach Paul Franks
Following the Kent game, Nottinghamshire will not contest another Specsavers County Championship match until August 6, as T20 takes hold.
Franks is quietly confident that the management team will have an overseas player in place by that date to assist the final push in four-day cricket – and is not ruling out a Pattinson return.
He said: “We have got a few plans in the pipeline after Dan Christian and Ish Sodhi play as our overseas players in the T20.
“With the international schedules being tweaked, it’s difficult at the moment to say what will or will not be happening, but we will be scouting to make sure we have a player of quality of the ones we have had so far in (Cheteshwar) Pujara and James Pattinson.
“With regard to James, you don’t rule anything out. Experience tells me that you can’t. From our point of view we’d loves James to come back in August, of course we would, but he’s got a lot to work through with Cricket Australia and we’ll keep close tabs on that.”
You can read more on how to book your tickets for the Royal London Cup final between Nottinghamshire and Surrey here.
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