Brett Hutton feels the resilience shown by Nottinghamshire this season has helped to bolster their self-belief, as the Green and Golds look to follow up their defiance in securing a draw at Kent with a positive result against Lancashire.
The seamer is part of a 13-man squad for the trip to Emirates Old Trafford (19 – 22 September, 10.30am starts).
Hutton hit a career-best 84 in Notts’ second innings, as his partnership with Joe Clarke helped take the visitors to a position of safety in the contest.
Indeed, Kent were just four wickets from defeat when time was called at the conclusion of the fourth day.
“Results like that obviously feel like a win,” said Hutton.
“We went into that last session and had them on the back foot, and with half an hour left in the game there was only us that could win it.
“It was a bit like the Lancashire and Warwickshire games [both drawn encounters at home], in that we showed our character, fought back and flipped the pressure onto them. So it was an amazing feeling on the bus back.
“We don’t want to have our backs against the wall, and be having to show that fight. We want to get on the front foot early, and drive the win home. But results like that increase that belief that we know what we can do if we show that fight and execute our skills.
“We’ve handled the pressure well, and now we just need to grab that initiative earlier.”
Hutton is one of a handful of players with more extensive experience of First Division cricket, having played in the top flight with Notts during his first stint with the club.
But he feels exposure to top-tier cricket is already proving positive for the younger players in the set-up – such as Lyndon James and Calvin Harrison, who each played their part in securing a share of the spoils at Canterbury.
“When you’re in and around Division One cricket, whether playing or twelfth-manning, you’re experiencing what it’s about,” he said.
“It’s always easy to say it, but it’s true that in Div 1 you don’t get a session off, you don’t face bad bowlers.
“You have to be able to handle the pressure and stay calm when you can be facing international bowlers on international grounds.
“You have to experience it and get used to it, and it only makes you better in the long run.”
Hutton has enjoyed a standout summer with the ball, leading the wicket-taking charts in the top flight with 54 scalps.
But it was his tenacity with the bat that was key in the South-East.
“I love batting, but it’s different physically to what I’m used to when I’m bowling, so it was tough – and the conditions were warm and muggy,” he said.
“They were setting quite attacking fields, and I can be quite attacking in my mindset, so I got off to a bit of a flier, and it kept going from there.
“We knew we needed to bat for as long as possible, but that we also needed to look to score too.
“If not, we could have left them chasing 50-odd in 30 overs, and we wouldn’t have been able to earn the result that we did.”