Notts Outlaws are welcoming back Steven Mullaney as they head to Edgbaston to face Warwickshire Bears on Friday, aiming for back-to-back Royal London One-Day Cup victories.
The all-rounder makes a welcome return after missing all competitive action so far this season with a foot injury.
After registering their first win of the competition at Derby on Tuesday, Notts were already set to make changes with both Alex Hales and Jake Ball away on international duty.
“We knew it would happen,” said Assistant Head Coach Paul Franks.
“It’s something you have to expect when you have a team containing international players.
"There will be a good chance for someone to come in and help us carry the momentum into Friday, for what is the start of a very important week for us.
“There are a few boys chomping at the bit to get a game. Greg Smith will be keen to be involved and Tom Moores is another one looking to get in that shake-up.”
After beginning the one-day campaign with two losses, Franks admitted that Tuesday’s match was almost a ‘must-win’ encounter.
“I think it probably was and there was a little bit of added pressure because of that.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, if you’ve only got eight matches to play. You’ve lost two and you need at least five wins to get moving, you’ve not got much wriggle room.
“We’ve got to keep moving forwards now. It wasn’t the perfect performance and it does need some polish but we were delighted to get the win.”
Three of the top four batsmen passed 50 at Derby without going on, and Franks is hoping for more telling contributions in the coming matches.
“It’s pleasing to see the top order firing,” he said. “But when you're chasing in a high scoring game you are looking for more than 50s, 60s and 70s. They know that. They know that they probably left a few runs out there.
“One of them would have liked to have walked off with 120 not out, but it wasn’t to be and they passed on that opportunity. Someone else had to go out and hit the winning runs, which are always the hardest to hit.”
Notts head for Edgbaston knowing they’ve won their last five one-day matches against the Bears, a statistic that Franks hopes to build on.
“We’ll go there knowing we’ve won our last match and also knowing we have won there in recent times.
"If we can click now and things start to go our way, we can be a good side in this competition.”
Notts Outlaws face Warwickshire Bears in the Royal London One-Day Cup at Edgbaston on Friday 5th May 2017 with play starting at 11am.
Notts Outlaws squad to face Warwickshire Bears: Brendan Taylor, James Pattinson, Steven Mullaney, Chris Read, Stuart Broad, Riki Wessels, Harry Gurney, Luke Fletcher, Samit Patel, Greg Smith, Tom Moores, Brett Hutton, Michael Lumb and Billy Root.
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