Nottinghamshire's leading wicket-taker for 2023, Brett Hutton, hopes that last year’s experience of a quarter-final exit to Lancashire will assist Notts Outlaws’ preparation for the Metro Bank One Day Cup.

The Outlaws head to Essex Eagles for their 50-over opener, having secured victory in a productive National County showcase outing at Norfolk.

Hutton is part of a 14-man side to travel down to Essex for Thursday, as the 2022 competition's top wicket-taker targets a performance which matches - if not betters - his haul of 22 scalps last year.

“The main thing for me is that everyone is a year older and a bit more experienced,” Hutton said, “we’ve picked up a few learnings from last year and hopefully we can go that little bit further and maybe win the whole thing or at least reach the knockouts again.”

Hutton broke through the 50-wicket mark in an important County Championship win over Kent last week, solidifying his place as the leading marksman across both divisions.

As far as he was concerned, the victory carried much more weight than his own tallies.

“Personal accolades and milestones are always great, but it was nice to get that win more than anything,” he said.

“Before the team split (for The Hundred and Metro Bank One Day Cup) it was really nice for us to all go out on a high, win together and prep for this competition with everyone feeling good.”

As his first taste of first-team white-ball cricket this year approaches, Hutton is more than ready for the transition to the 50-over game - and knows exactly what is required for a successful start.

“It’s about clear planning and braveness to be positive and aggressive; that’s something we want to try this year," he said.

“We have to understand that we’re not robots and we’ll get it wrong sometimes, but the ability to set a good plan, good fields and to execute the plan calmly under pressure - that sort of level-headedness - will be key.”

Fittingly, the action-packed final day versus Kent - which saw the visitors skittled in just 21.3 overs to hand Nottinghamshire victory - very much resembled a one-day contest, a testing trial under pressure ahead of the fresh List A campaign.

Hutton touched on a lesson in playing the desired aggressive style, delivered impeccably by Joe Clarke.

“It was a bizarre morning’s cricket,” he said on Nottinghamshire’s second innings, “I didn’t see it going as well as it did, and I don’t think anyone else did, but Clarkey had other ideas when he went out to bat and set up a ridiculous number of runs in such a short period of time.

“It was a remarkable show of his class from white-ball cricket - for him to play that brand of cricket at that sort of pace was brilliant, and set up that opportunity for us.”

Captained by Haseeb Hameed for the second year running, Hutton is an admirer of the One Day Cup skipper’s brand of leadership, but equally expects other individuals to show leadership when the match scenario demands it.

“He brings calmness and trust," he reflected.

"He’s very good at being chilled and level-headed which, in white-ball cricket when the ball can start disappearing and going round the park a bit, is a great skill to have. The team really appreciate how steady he is as a captain.

“We’re all going to try to be leaders. Myself and Dane have played more List A games so will probably be asked for our opinions a bit more, and it’s helpful that we’ve got a few older lads in the team for that reason.”

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