Former Nottinghamshire and England bowler Mike Hendrick is delighted to see Test cricket back at Trent Bridge in August when Virat Kohli and his star-studded India team are in town.
Now a regular in the Hadlee and Sobers Halls that host the county’s indoor nets as an Academy bowling coach, the former seam bowler was once in the shoes of Joe Root and co preparing for a summer of exciting action.
And he says the stop off in Nottingham – he played at the venue four times between 1977 and 1981 against Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies – was one he always had marked on his calendar.
This year’s Test – the third of the series against India – will take place from August 18 to 22.
“Trent Bridge has always been my favourite cricket ground alongside Lord’s,” says Hendrick. “It’s always been a very intimate ground to me and you felt close to the crowd, which always made it a great atmosphere.
“There’s quite a lot of history attached to Trent Bridge and when they did the development on it, they kept that heritage and it still feels quite an intimate ground to me.”
Hendrick was Team Manager of Notts from June 1992 and November 1993 and has been back at the Club coaching youngsters for almost a decade.
He has also continued to watch international matches as a spectator and one occasion sticks out in his mind more than any other.
He adds: “For an incredible bowling performance, it has to be Stuart Broad’s 8-15 when he bowled the Aussies out just about on his own. It’s something that just happens in a person’s career and a series that don’t come along that often.
“The crowd was absolutely stunned. They were thinking ‘is this really happening’. That morning sticks in my mind.
“That’s what people come to Trent Bridge for – to see those types of feats. It doesn’t matter whether you like to see good fast bowling or batsman scoring runs, moments like that are what you want to see.”
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