Kevin Shine praised the industriousness of Notts’ attack after they claimed five hard-earned wickets on the first day against Essex at Chelmsford. 

The hosts finished the day on 262, having been 86/4 earlier in the day in the afternoon session in conditions appearing favourable for seam bowling.

It was the contributions of Tom Westley (108*) and Paul Walter (72), which held the home side’s innings together - the pair added 142 for the fifth wicket - and Shine was equally complimentary of their respective performances. 

“I thought Luke [Fletcher] and Rob Lord bowled really nicely,” he started. 

“Rob has got a bit of pace coming up the hill and was aggressive, and Luke bowled beautifully and with a lovely rhythm coming down the hill and applied that bit of pressure. 

“But then Tom [Westly] and Paul [Walter] played really, really well. It was one of those innings where they had to work really hard, we kept applying the pressure and then taking a wicket at the end of the day has helped us as well.”

Rob Lord’s two wickets came in only his second First-Class start for Notts, and included the important scalp of Dean Elgar. 

His seam bowling partner Luke Fletcher claimed just one, but looked threatening throughout a 13-over opening spell either side of lunch. 

Their contributions came with the Kookaburra ball, with this round of fixtures being used to trial the alternative manufacturer. 

 “Rob has sort of come out of nowhere,” Shine admitted. 

“He is impressive, he’s tall, he hits the deck really hard and bowls a good line - he is very exciting. 

“He is getting used to first-class cricket and getting used to it quite quickly as well. You saw there he had got some pace, he caused some trouble and he’ll get better over the next year or so.

 “The ball did get softer, but we know that happens and what you have to do is adapt, change the fields, keep applying the pressure.”

Shine was also full of commendation for Notts’ spin pairing - Farhan Ahmed and Liam Patterson-White who continued to toil for Notts amidst bad light and changing conditions. 

“Liam and Farhan came on and bowled really well,” he said. 

“It was two young spinners, in tandem against two really good, attacking players. They have done well to keep the game fairly even at the moment.

“Farhan keeps trying to do the same thing over and over again. He obviously did that when he got his seven-fer and his 10-fer in the last game and he has carried on trying to do that here. 

“It looks like the Essex players have tried to counter-attack a little bit with him, but he is very cool and calm and didn’t get flustered at any point. He’s just a wonderful talent to see playing at a high standard of cricket.”

“Tomorrow is going to be very important. We’ve got six overs until the new-ball and we know that the new Kookaburra ball will nip around a little bit, so it is going to be an exciting morning.”