Peter Moores saw his Nottinghamshire side trade pre-season blows with Derbyshire before reflecting that - with batters finding form, high standards set in the field and the sight of Lyndon James bowling at full throttle once more - there were multiple reasons for positivity at the conclusion of the game’s opening day.

The visitors to the Incora County Ground restricted their East Midlands rivals to 127-4 from their 50 over allocation, before posting 234-7 from the same 300 delivery allocation of their own.

And, over the course of six days of warm-up cricket to date and with Joe Clarke and Liam Patterson-White having struck fluent half-centuries today, the Head Coach believes his batting line-up can be content with their pre-season’s work so far.

“It’s a settled top order now because it’s been together for a couple of years and they know how each other play,” he said.

“They’ve all had some decent time the middle during pre-season, which is important because playing when the game situation is live is very different to all training scenarios.

“They’ve built up their form in the tent and, although not everyone’s got a big score, there’s nobody that looks out of nick and that’s a good place to be.”

Academy graduate all-rounder Lyndon James looked in fine fettle at the crease in making 26 from 35 deliveries. However, it was the 23-year-old's outing with the ball (10-7-21-1) that Moores found particularly pleasing.

“It was great to see the way Lyndon came on and managed to extract more life out of the pitch,” said Moores.

“He didn’t bowl before Christmas because he’d had a few issues with his back. Credit to him and the coaching, medical and conditioning staff for the way they’ve built up his workload in stages and got him to where he is now.

“Today he’s had ten overs of really aggressive bowling in a session and a half and he’s come through it fine, which is a really good sign as we look for him to return to the role he fulfilled with us during the majority of last season; as a wicket-taking change bowler and a very solid middle-order player with the bat.

“It’s not just the fact that he bowled the ten overs. He bowled them at full tilt and was threatening throughout and that was good to see.”

Although James snaffled the prized wicket of Billy Godleman with one that nipped away, and Luke Fletcher trapped his old adversary Wayne Madsen lbw, Nottinghamshire’s champagne moment in the field came when Ben Duckett threw down a solitary visible stump from the off-side ring to dismiss Leus Du Plooy.

It was a moment indicative of the attitude the Green and Golds have brought to pre-season, according to Moores.

“It was run out from the inner circle and that’s something we work on every single morning,” the Head Coach reflected. “Ben has been one of the champions of that work so to see him run somebody out was pleasing.

“He is very quick across the ground and has become one of our best fielders during the past couple of years.

“Whether it’s run outs, diving stops or catches at slip, fielding is such a key part of the game.

“Supporting your bowlers is key and the way we’ve gone about it in pre-season has been promising.

“The guys have demonstrated that they are on the ball, setting their standards and getting into good habits for the start of the competitive action.

“Fielding is so important, not just in one-day cricket but in the red-ball game as well, and it’s an area we’ve been trying to move on each year.

“Some of that is tactical and some of it is technical too. It’s interesting that, with Ben’s run out today, he threw the ball from beneath himself, which is a quicker way to release it and give yourself a run out chance.

“He gained half a yard by producing that skill at pace and it made all the difference to the outcome, which was great to see.”

Nottinghamshire’s pre-season fixture against Derbyshire is scheduled to continue at The Incora County Ground tomorrow, with play once again due to commence at 10.30am.

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