Riki Wessels is determined to put the disappointment of missing out on Notts Outlaws’ 2013 Lord’s triumph by playing a key part in this year’s Royal London One-Day Cup final at the Home of Cricket.
The attacking batsman was on the Trent Bridge playing staff at that time but not picked for the showpiece occasion, in which his team-mates beat Glamorgan by 87 runs in the YB40 final.
This time, however, the Australian-born right-hander is an intrinsic part of an Outlaws side that has played an attacking brand of cricket en route to the final, contributing 296 runs from nine innings.
He hopes to add to that total significantly in the capital as he prepares to play on a stage that had previously eluded him in his career at Trent Bridge and, before that, with Northamptonshire.
“It’s a totally different experience for me from last time. I got told quite well in advance that I wasn’t going to play in the final, so for me it was a bitter-sweet win and quite difficult,” said Wessels.
“Any bit of silverware you can try and win you have to try to take it.”
“But this time, win or lose, it’s just nice to have the opportunity to be involved. I’ve been playing now for the best part of 13 seasons to get to be involved in a Lord’s final, so to be a part of it would be quite special.
“There’s still a massive amount of prestige around the one-day final. As a Club, four-day cricket is what we are about day in, day out, but if someone dangles that carrot for a Lord’s final, you want to be there and then win it.
“It always holds that importance. It’s not the last game of the season, but I think holding it in July is better. When you start playing games in May and the final is not until September, the contradiction of conditions is massive.
“This year we’ve been able to play in a relatively confined block, so the skills have been better and the quality of cricket is better, so it’s a much better format. Any bit of silverware you can try and win you have to try to take it.”
Wessels has good reason to look forward to playing at Lord’s, too, given the knock he played the last time he walked out to bat there in a List A game.
The 31-year-old blasted 132 from 118 balls with 12 fours and seven sixes to lead Notts to a 49-run victory over Middlesex in a Royal London One-Day Cup Group B game in August 2015.
He said: “That’s my last memory at Lord’s in a white ball game – it’s not a bad one to have, so hopefully on Saturday that can continue.
“My dad, Kepler, also scored a century there, so it’s a special place for the family.”
“My dad, Kepler, also scored a century there, so it’s a special place for the family and hopefully we can add some more good memories to that.”
Nottinghamshire will finish their game with Kent today (Thursday) before travelling down to practice at the Nursery Ground at Lord’s tomorrow afternoon ahead of the match on Saturday.
Wessels is looking forward to focusing in on the game after the team were forced to swiftly put the buzz of winning the semi-final against Essex to one side as they moved into consecutive Specsavers County Championship matches.
He said: “It was quite phenomenal in the dressing room at Essex. None of us knew it was a record chase until we were sat in the changing room and it came up on the screen. It was quite special and crazy to explain.
“Having scored more than 400 a couple of days before, 373 felt quite meagre really! The way Samit (Patel), BT (Brendan Taylor) and Mull (Steven Mullaney) played was outstanding and all credit to them.
"We were really excited after that, but it’s been on a back burner until we finish the Kent game.
“It will be great once we get down there on Friday and train so we can really get a feel for the ground and build into it. Having not played Middlesex this year, we haven’t been down to Lord’s yet, and it’s always really special.”
“It will be great once we get down there on Friday and train so we can really get a feel for the ground.”
After losing their opening two North Group games, the Outlaws have hit back superbly to qualify for the knock-out quarter-finals by finishing third in their section behind Worcestershire Rapids and Yorkshire Vikings.
He is hoping that Notts are peaking at the right time when they take on Surrey, who also appear to have found their best form at the optimum moment.
Wessels said: “It’s been quite different from years gone by. Usually we start quite well and burn out towards the end, so it was worrying at the start of the campaign when we’d lost a few, but we’ve come good.
“As we’ve found, sometimes to our cost, it’s all about peaking at the right time. Having such a frenetic week of 50-over cricket against Somerset and then Essex will stand us in good stead, though. It was quite nice to get such a big score on the board and then chase down such a big score.”
A significant factor in Notts’ success has the been the strength in their batting line-ups, no matter who has been available for any given fixture.
It has meant there has been a real scrap for places, with some quality players missing out.
“If you look at the quality of players who missed out on the semi-final... Billy Root has scored a hundred in one of the games and other important runs and Greg Smith’s not had a game this year and two years ago almost won us our semi-final against Surrey with 120-odd when we just missed out,” said Wessels.
“We have an exceptional depth of batting talent that is quite scary really and I think that makes for a quiet batting confidence among the guys. We know our roles and how each other play.
“We have an exceptional depth of batting talent that is quite scary really.”
“At the top of the order you have that freedom, but you know the guys coming in at four, five, six and Ready at seven are well capable of getting us over the line when needed.”
Bowling-wise, the Outlaws have been equally blessed, and featured a quartet of international seamers in the game with Essex at Chemlsford.
Although Jake Ball has since been ruled out with a knee injury, and Stuart Broad’s availability is also in the balance, Wessels says there are still plenty of options.
He added: “It’s not very often you have a side that goes out on the park like we have. In the semi-final, I think there was only Mull and myself who haven’t played international cricket. That’s quite incredible.
“Look at the bowling line-up and the experience we have. When we are at full strength, to have Broady, Pattinson, Harry and Jake, with Mull and Samit mixed in there, it’s a well-settled, well-experienced bowling attack.
“40 and 50 over cricket doesn’t favour the bowlers, but the way they have come through in the quarters and semis was impeccable really.”
None of the Notts squad who have been interviewed in the lead up to the final have been anything but respectful of opponents Surrey – and Wessels is no different.
“It’s probably the two best one day sides in the country and the quality of players on show is second to none,” he said.
“Who wins will come down to who executes their skills best on the day.”
“You have guys in their side who have played a lot of international cricket and guys like Mark Stoneman, who is probably on the verge of playing his first Test match, along with the bowling experience of both Currans (Sam and Tom), (Jade) Dernbach and (Gareth) Batty.
“If (Kumar) Sangakkara got nought I would be happy because he is class, but there will be lots of different factors that influence the result, not just one player.
“Who wins will come down to who executes their skills best on the day, but if you were a betting man you would probably go 50-50 right now.”
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