Dane Paterson is looking to bring a “fresh energy” to the dressing room as he returns Trent Bridge ahead of Nottinghamshire’s Vitality County Championship clash with Somerset.
The seamer is included in a 14-man squad for the visit of the South Westeners, the first of two four-day fixtures in succession before a switch back to the short format.
With a red-ball focused role at Notts, Paterson was given the opportunity for some rest and recuperation, as well as some conditioning opportunities, over the course of the Outlaws’ first T20 block.
He hopes his own personal reset will allow him to offer added vigour to the group.
“I will certainly try and bring back a renewed energy to the squad after this first set of T20 games,” Paterson said.
“That format of cricket has its own intensity, and hopefully I can bring something slightly different to the lads in dressing room who have been working very hard over the last few weeks.
“I can make the guys feel ready to take on the next eight days of red ball cricket.
“We had been building some good momentum playing four-day cricket, but the break has given players like me a chance to recharge.
“I was given some physical work to do over the break and that puts me in good stead. It’s hard to fit in some of your strengthening work during the season, so I feel like I have reset the body."
The reverse fixture at Taunton in April saw white-ball captain Joe Clarke hit an unbeaten double century while Will Young made 174 not out - innings which Paterson described as “excellent”.
The Proteas pacer knows his team won’t rest on their laurels, though, with the visitors to Trent Bridge just 20 points ahead in the table.
“It’s a new game, they might have a couple of players coming in who didn’t play last time out, it will be a good test.
“But we know when we are at our best, we are a hard side to beat.”
Paterson’s last outing for Nottinghamshire came away at Worcestershire in late May when he took two wickets.
However, a saturated outfield on day one and rain on days three and four thwarted the Green and Golds’ hopes of victory after bowling out the hosts for just 80 on the second day before posting 234/3 in reply.
“It is a shame we couldn’t play more of that game [against Worcestershire] because of the rain, but we couldn’t stop mother nature,” he said.
“We wanted to get on the field, but it wasn’t fit enough. We would have been in a good position so it would have been nice to see how the game would have panned out.
“It’s definitely given us confidence and momentum despite the break, though. We hit our straps as an all round unit which is what we need to do to win any game.”
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Notts Outlaws' next home Vitality Blast clash sees them entertain Leicestershire Foxes on Friday 5 July.