Notts Outlaws’ Brendan Taylor has fond memories of his first trip to Lord’s – and well he might.
While plenty of players can be overawed by the occasion of stepping out at the Home of Cricket, the Zimbabwean right-hander positively revelled in his illustrious surroundings, hitting a superb century.
The County Championship game against Middlesex in April 2015 also doubled as the 31-year-old’s first match for the Club, and Taylor has become a popular and respected member of the squad ever since.
Now he’s hoping for another big score at NW8 and to help his team-mates to Royal London One-Day Cup glory in Saturday’s final against Surrey.
“It’s a massive occasion for the Club and each individual player who is going to be part of it.”
“I was lucky enough to get a hundred on debut for the Club – although my runs for the Club dried up pretty rapidly after that!” joked Taylor.
“I have got some very special memories from when I first played there, but It’s always a very special place to play for everyone. To play there again with this bunch of lads will be good fun.
“It’s a massive occasion for the Club and each individual player who is going to be part of it. Lord’s is the greatest spectacle in terms of cricket grounds to play at.
“Individual contributions on big-game situations are nice, like the one I got a Somerset (his 154 was the third highest List A score by a Notts batsman), and I would love to get some runs in the final, but as a group we are all in fantastic form, which bodes well.”
Four-time Test match centurion Taylor insists the way the Outlaws qualified for the final, by mounting an English List A record run chase, has given the team a huge amount of confidence.
Brilliant centuries from Steven Mullaney, who hit 111 and Samit Patel, who struck 122 not out, helped the Outlaws overhaul Essex’s 370-5 as they responded with 373-5.
Taylor said: “After the guys won at Essex, they were really on cloud nine. It was great to celebrate that and took us a while to sink in that we’d got to Lord’s.
“The chase we had at Chelmsford was unbelievable – I’ve never played in a game like it. To chase that total down after being so under pressure in the first 10 overs was a great effort.
“The chase we had at Chelmsford was unbelievable – I’ve never played in a game like it.”
“I would like to think that has given us the belief we can chase anything, and I also think we can defend anything as well.
“We’ve got the Kent game to focus on first, but then, towards the end of the week, the Surrey game will come in to view and that promises to be really special for all of us.”
Saturday’s two sides met each other at the same stage of this competition two summers ago, a clash Taylor remembers well.
Surrey batted first at the Kia Oval and piled up 300-5, led by a masterful 166 from Kumar Sangakkara, who will again be one to watch at the weekend.
The Outlaws made a valiant pursuit of their target but came up five runs short of victory on 296-7, despite Greg Smith’s excellent knock of 124.
“Surrey have got the wood over us after beating us in the semi-final a couple of years ago and they’re coming off a good semi-final win, so it’s all to play for, said Taylor.
“They’ve got some good, attacking batsmen, some good spinners and some good all-round cricketers too.
“They have come up short a couple of times in finals last year, so the pressure will really be on them this time. We will go out relaxed and respect them, but we’ll come out hard and try to make it really difficult for them.”
“I think we are due a big win and getting some silverware for the Club.”
With the Club riding high at the top of the Specsavers County Championship Division Two, Taylor is optimistic Notts can ride the crest of their current wave to win their first knock-out Trophy since the 2013 YB40.
He said: “I think we are due a big win and getting some silverware for the Club. We don’t want to take anyone for granted and, of course, we never would, but we feel that this is our time.
“We’re a very hard side to beat at the moment. I think we have been entertaining and we are going to bring that same brand of cricket into the final. We certainly won’t hold back.
“We’re not going out to worry too much about Surrey, we’re just going out to play the ball. I’m pretty confident we can do it.”
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