Dozens of former Nottinghamshire cricketers gathered once more for an annual ex-players’ event at Trent Bridge, during Notts’ Vitality County Championship clash with Surrey.
The gathering, which first started in the 1990s, has grown in attendance over the decades and this year saw the likes of Graeme Swann, Chris Broad and Samit Patel attend amongst a star-studded line-up of former players who wore Nottinghamshire colours during their careers.
Not an empty seat could be found in the Boundary’s Edge suite as the contingent enjoyed a three-course meal, rekindled old friendships and shared fond memories from their playing days.
Paul Johnson, a County Championship winner with Nottinghamshire who amassed over 20,000 runs for his home county, described the get-together as “wonderful occasion”.
“It’s really nice that we’ve gone from 20-30 people to more like 60-80 people coming each year,” he said.
“It’s not just about the number of players, it’s also the calibre of players who come back here and say how special Trent Bridge is to them. To see the likes of Gregg Smith who I haven’t seen in over 20 years, and one or two others too, and to have such a diverse section of Nottinghamshire history here is brilliant. As a lad from Newark, to have some of your heroes here is special too.”
Johnson was only a teenager when he made his First-Class debut for Notts, enjoying a prestigious county career spanning 21 years before becoming a batting coach within the Trent Bridge setup.
Now a coach at Leicestershire, Trent Bridge holds a special place in Johnson’s heart.
“To win the County Championship in my first year was - to put it one way - educational, under the leadership of Clive Rice and Richard Hadlee plus a load of wonderful cricketers in that dressing room," he said.
“Considering there were players a lot better than me who won nothing, I was very privileged to be in a team who challenged for and won every domestic honour.
"I’m massively proud of that achievement and of all the teammates, who are all still so in love with the ground and in love with the club.”
The gathering witnessed the next generation of Nottinghamshire talent on display, as 16-year-old off-spinner Farhan Ahmed took a seven-fer on debut as Nottinghamshire’s youngest ever First-Class cricketer.
Johnson, who himself once held the record as Notts’ youngest County Championship debutant, felt it was befitting of the occasion to witness Ahmed’s red-ball debut from the Radcliffe Road balcony.
“I took the youngest debutant accolade off of Bruce French - who is here today - then Bilal Shafayat took it off me, and then just a day ago Bilal handed a cap to Farhan who took that record off of him,” he added.
“The legacy of Bruce through to me, through to Billy, through to Farhan is a wonderful thing and I’m so proud to be a part of that history.
“To see Farhan bowling so over 50 overs at the age of 16 is phenomenal and I’m sure that he, his two brothers, his dad and his whole family are proud. It’s a wonderful thing to see.”