Chris Nash is using his time in South Africa - where he has coached alongside Gary Kirsten and spent time assisting the England setup – to ensure he returns to Notts in the best possible shape for the 2020 season.
Nash was part of Kirsten’s backroom team with Durban Heat in the Mzansi Super League, and will continue to work with the former South Africa and India coach as he welcomes a 15-strong party for a high-performance camp in the coming weeks.
But the right-hander is keen to ensure that preparing for a return to the middle with Notts remains his priority.
“I knew when I came over that coaching is just an add-on to my main job, which is to be a professional cricketer with Notts, and I’ve got to come back ready and raring to go,” said Nash.
“We’re all well aware of what happened last season and what we need to put right.
“I just had to be very good with my time before Christmas, getting to the gym for 6.30am before any management meetings to make sure I kept my fitness up.
“Now I’m back into my preparation with the cricket. I’ll be starting to work with Gary next week one-on-one, then I’ll dip in and out of the high-performance camp as a player as well.
“It’ll be no different to any other year in terms of how I go about my business and the amount of work I put in.”
"Coaching is just an add-on to my main job as a professional cricketer with Notts, and I’ve got to come back ready and raring to go"
Chris Nash
Nash’s responsibilities with Durban Heat included coaching his Outlaws teammate Alex Hales – a role he admits both found unusual at first.
“Initially it was quite hard,” disclosed Nash.
“We’re good mates, we’ve played a lot of cricket together and played against each other, but I think it helped that it was a T20 competition – the atmosphere’s a bit more relaxed and friendly.
“Us both being out there helped us to settle in, because we didn’t know the local lads particularly well when we arrived – although the group did bond quite quickly anyway.
“It was a really good time working with Hales and all of the players – as well as being able to work closely with Gary for six weeks, ask him questions and gather all the information I could.”
Durban Heat’s campaign ultimately ended in disappointment, with Kirsten’s outfit falling one point short of a qualification place after losing a number of fixtures to the inclement weather conditions.
But Nash still felt that his Super League experience was valuable.
“If you don’t qualify but you lose five or six games then you’re cool with that, but to miss out by losing five games out of ten to the rain was such a shame,” he said.
“We didn’t quite get going in the first two games, but then we put together three record run chases, so I do think if we’d played ten games we’d have qualified and had a chance of winning it.
“But it was fantastic to see how you put a team together in such a short space of time and get them to bond and work together.”
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Nottinghamshire Membership for the 2020 season is on sale, with those who join for next season bestowed access to all scheduled Notts home matches, international tickets in Members' areas and a range of exclusive benefits.