Peter Moores admitted he took extra satisfaction from Notts’ win over Kent because of the manner of the team’s performance under pressure.
With the battle to secure another season in Division One of the County Championship going down to the wire, the visitors turned in a ten-wicket triumph at Canterbury.
Notts now sit 15 points above the relegation zone with one game remaining, and Moores credited the mentality of his side for helping them to prevail.
“Everyone wants to play in games that matter – and while you want them to be semi-finals, finals or top-of-the-table clashes, sometimes it’s those games where you’re fighting for survival in a division that magnify your performance most,” he said.
“We talked about sharing pressure, with everyone taking a bit of it. It can be hard sometimes to focus on your own game, because it’s easy to be distracted by other games, but we made a real effort to make sure we ignored what everyone else was doing and focused on what we were doing.
“Ben Slater’s 160 will be remembered because of the timing of it, as will Farhan Ahmed’s performance, as will Dane Schadendorf’s full debut, because there will have been a lot of people watching on – not just here, but online too.
“It’s our responsibility to represent those people – and while you can’t always win, you want people to know that the lads have given everything. That’s definitely been the case over the last four days.”
Nottinghamshire’s Head Coach felt the tone was set early on day one, as Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed put on 196 for the first wicket despite losing the toss.
“The equation was clear – we had to win the game,” he said.
“So after losing the toss, I give a lot of credit in terms of how we started the game to Hass and Ben.
“That was arguably the best I’ve seen Ben play – it was a fantastic knock when it really counted and the pressure was on, because the ball moved around quite a lot.
“He got out of the blocks really quickly and made it hard for the Kent bowlers, because he didn’t just sit in there, he looked for every scoring opportunity.”
Academy graduate Farhan Ahmed continued his strong start to life in the first team by taking four Kent wickets in the first innings, before chipping in with a further two as the hosts followed on.
And Moores feels that – aided by advice from a great of the county game – the 16-year-old is improving at a rate of knots.
“He’s taken to first-team cricket like a duck to water,” he said.
“What I love about him is he’s got a real tenacity about how he goes about his game. He bowls every ball like it’s his last, and that’s a great thing to have early in your career.
“At the end of the Essex game, me, Freddie and Farhan sat down with Simon Harmer, who shared some of the wisdom he’s gained as an off-spinner who’s been in the game for so long.
“I thought Farhan took some of those things on in this game. He still bowled with his pace, but he got a slightly different trajectory on the ball – he got it to drop a bit more, adjusted a couple of things, and it made a real difference for him.
“Credit to Simon for being open to share with a young player, and real credit to Farhan for taking it on board.”
Ahmed’s performance was backed up by a strong showing from Nottinghamshire’s pace-bowling contingent, with Luke Fletcher taking two first-innings wickets, Jacob Duffy securing five in the match, Rob Lord securing five and Lyndon James chalking up two crucial scalps.
“We often pride ourselves on being a side that can restrict the scoring rate and bowl at the top of off-stump, but in this game it didn’t quite happen like that,” Moores said.
“What we did do, is we kept being aggressive in how we bowled. Hass did well as captain, he set aggressive fields, and we hunted wickets.
“I thought Jacob Duffy did well. It’s hard when you first come in to a side, and he wouldn’t have played a four-day game for six months or so, so it was understandable that he was a bit rusty in the first innings.
“As the game went on, you could see that he started to settle more with each spell he bowled. He bowled with real pace and made it very difficult for the lower order, so I’m really pleased for him.
“And Lyndon James did what Lyndon James does – when it gets tough, he fronts up and has a go.”
Dane Schadendorf also enjoyed a fruitful full First-Class debut, having previously featured as a substitute when Ben Duckett was elevated into England’s ODI squad three summers ago.
The wicketkeeper took six catches in the match and hit 29 in the first innings.
“As debuts go, it was fantastic,” said Moores.
“With the bat, he went in and faced five balls on the evening of day one but looked calm, and I thought the way he played the next day was testament to the work he’s put in.
“He built a good partnership with Luke Fletcher, took his scoring opportunities when they came and just looked at home.
“And keeping-wise, I was really pleased for him. He took some excellent catches, including one absolute screamer off Rob Lord to get rid of Harry Finch, which is one he’ll remember for a long time.
“He didn’t just play, he made a difference – and that’s the best a player can do on debut.”
Schadendorf’s excellence with the gloves was matched by sterling work in the outfield – with Freddie McCann’s one-handed take at short-leg to remove Matt Parkinson a particular highlight.
“It’s something we pride ourselves on,” said Moores of his side’s fielding excellence.
“We do loads of work on it, we monitor it, and we gauge ourselves against other teams – and our record is strong.
“Freddie has come into the team as a very natural catcher, and he took two great catches.
“But we caught well, certainly on a pitch which was starting to flatten out and get a bit slower, so know you need to take those chances.
“The old adage is that catches win matches, and there’s more than a grain of truth to it.”