After two rounds of Specsavers County Championship action the domestic focus now switches to the Royal London One-Day Cup.

The 50-over competition begins this week, with Notts hosting Lancashire at Trent Bridge.

Head-To-Head

Notts and Lancashire will be meeting for the 67th time in domestic one-day cricket this week, a series that began with a Gillette Cup tie at Trent Bridge in 1968.

The Red Rose, thanks to their early dominance in limited-overs cricket, hold the advantage, with 38 victories. A total of eight fixtures have been lost to the weather, with the Outlaws triumphing on the other 20 occasions, most recently last year.

Notts have hosted the match on 30 previous occasions, with all but the 2003 meeting at Cleethorpes being held at Trent Bridge.

The Outlaws have won the last two contests, following up their Old Trafford victory two years ago with a home success last May, one of 15 wins in Nottingham.

Lancashire last won at Trent Bridge in 2011, a match in which Ali Brown and Darren Bravo both played their final matches for the home county. That was their 13th away win in the series.

Last Time

It’s almost two years since Notts Outlaws last hosted Lancashire in the Royal London One-Day Cup. On 14 May 2017 the sides met at Trent Bridge and it proved to be a tough day for the visitors.

They posted a respectable total of 260 for six, having been in a position to post many more after Karl Brown, with 52, and Alex Davies, 45, put on 98 in only 16 overs.

Haseeb Hameed made an unbeaten 75 and Ryan McLaren gave the innings some lustre with a punchy 43 from 40 balls, before being bowled by Harry Gurney.

Although James Anderson removed Alex Hales for only four, Notts took the aerial route to victory. The Red Rose had only hit one six during their innings but the hosts cleared the ropes on nine occasions as they sped to a seven-wicket success with four overs to spare.

The game ran away from Lancs after Samit Patel and Steven Mullaney combined in a powerful, unbroken stand of 181 in 28.3 overs.

Mullaney scored 77 not out against his former county but the innings of the day belonged to Patel, hitting a belligerent 103 not out – the fifth of his seven one-day hundreds.

Patel and Mullaney also scored hundreds together in the semi final against Essex that year, with the Outlaws going on to lift the trophy.

History

1968 | Notts won the first meeting between the two sides with a 3-wicket victory at Trent Bridge. Sir Garfield Sobers took the man of the match award after taking 3-28 and then scored an unbeaten 75 as his side chased down a victory target of 169 to win with 10 overs to spare. In the same match Deryck Murray became the first Notts wicketkeeper to take five catches in a List A fixture.

1980 | One-day best figures of 4-17 by Lancashire’s David Lloyd condemned Nottinghamshire to defeat in a Benson and Hedges Cup group match at Old Trafford in 1980. The significance of the result meant that it was the Red Rose county who secured home advantage in the quarter-finals, with Notts having to travel to Northants – where they lost.

1980 | In September 1980, a large Trent Bridge crowd turned out to pay their respects to Richard Hadlee, due to play his final match in Nottinghamshire colours. However, against Lancashire in the John Player League, he produced what would be the best one-day figures of his career, 6-12, to speed Notts to an easy victory. Inspired by the response from the supporters and team-mates, he went back on his decision to leave and agreed to return the following season, eventually remaining with the county until 1987.

1998 | The first floodlit match at Trent Bridge reached an unsatisfactory conclusion in every sense. Rain delayed the start until 7pm and then high winds prevented the temporary lights from being raised to their full height. On the field, in an AXA Equity and Law League match reduced to 26 overs per side, Lancashire made 221-2, with Andrew Flintoff clubbing an unbeaten 93 off 55 balls. Notts were then docked two overs for a poor over rate and could only make 169-4, despite Paul Johnson’s unbeaten 51.

2011 | The end of a player’s career is always an emotional occasion, especially for someone who has been in the professional game for more than two decades. Forty-one-year-old Ali Brown bowed out of county cricket after playing in a Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Trent Bridge against Lancashire. Notts didn’t win but the day was still a memorable one for the former Surrey and England batsman, who said afterwards: “I’ve never had a standing ovation for scoring just 18 before!”

2018 | Last season’s competition began with the televised clash at Old Trafford between the two rivals. Notts, who gave the recently-signed former Durham MCCU skipper Will Fraine an unexpected debut, scraped home by nine runs. Steven Mullaney, Ross Taylor and Chris Nash all went past 50 as Notts posted 318 all out, their highest score v Lancs. The Red Rose seemed on course to reach their target until Harry Gurney removed Keaton Jennings for 135 with the victory line in sight.

Stats (for all one-day matches between Notts Outlaws & Lancs)

Highest Team Total | Notts: 318 (Old Trafford, 2018), Lancs: 353-7 (Old Trafford, 1995).

Highest Individual Innings | Notts: 119* RT Robinson (Trent Bridge, 1994), Lancs: 134 JER Gallian (Old Trafford, 1995).

Best Bowling | Notts: 6-12 RJ Hadlee (Trent Bridge, 1980), Lancs: 5-13 K Shuttleworth (Trent Bridge, 1972).

Played For Them Both

Two members of the current Nottinghamshire squad have previously worn the colours of Lancashire.

Club skipper Steven Mullaney began his career at Old Trafford, making four first class, eight List A and three T20 appearances for the Red Rose before moving to Notts ahead of the 2010 season.

In 2016, before any first team appearances for Notts, Tom Moores helped Lancashire out with a brief loan move to provide cover during a run of injuries amongst their wicketkeepers.

The young gloveman played twice in their championship side, made four appearances in the Royal London One-Day Cup and also enjoyed six outings in the T20 Blast.

Amongst the others who have represented both counties are: Jack Bond, Mark Crawley, Steve Elworthy, Jason Gallian, Kyle Hogg, Gary Keedy, Oliver Newby, Ashwell Prince, Ajmal Shahzad and Peter Siddle.

Milestones 

A number of players are in line to make their List A debuts for Notts Outlaws this week, with Ben Slater, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke and Zak Chappell all hoping to be included against Lancashire.

Duckett will look forward to facing Lancs again, having made 98 against them in 2016 in a winning cause for Northants.

Outlaws’ captain Steven Mullaney is on the brink of an individual landmark, having taken 97 wickets in one-day cricket.

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