Nottinghamshire’s Mark Footitt celebrated his return to the county championship side by taking four wickets in the current match against Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl.
The 32-year old, in his second spell with the county, admitted he has enjoyed being involved again.
“It’s been a long time, over a year since I played for Notts,” he reflected.
“Obviously, there were injuries and then we were trying to find things that had gone with wrong with my bowling action but I’ve tried to enjoy it and been really positive.
"It’s almost like making my debut again.”
Footitt returned to the Trent Bridge staff last summer and played one match before picking up a recurrence of an injury that had begun during his spell with Surrey.
This term, apart from a short loan spell with Derbyshire, his path to the first team has been blocked by the quality of in-form quicks that have been available.
“That’s why I came back to Notts,” he said. “I really wanted to test myself against a good bowling unit and be a part of that.
“That hasn’t worked out until now but I’m back in the team and the hardest thing is to stay in the team.
"I thought I did alright here and getting a few wickets helps but obviously it is just enjoyable getting back out there.”
The left-arm quick took three for 69 in Hampshire’s second innings, including a demolition job on the stumps of Jimmy Adams.
“It was nice to get a wicket like that because it’s been a while since I’ve been playing,” he beamed. “It’s enjoyable seeing the ball swing and the batter miss one for once.”
Notts have work to do on the final day but have six wickets still intact as they look to bat out for an unlikely draw.
“We’re massively behind the 8-ball but with Mull there and Riki there (Steven Mullaney and Riki Wessels), the batters will try to work their backsides off to try and get into a position to save this game.
“It’s going to be a long hard day tomorrow but all of us who are still to bat have to try and somehow get through until the end of the day.”
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