Head Coach Peter Moores feels Nottinghamshire's ten-day stay in Abu Dhabi has been beneficial in multiple ways, as Notts prepare to return for the Rothesay County Championship season.

During their time in the UAE capital, Moores’ men earned worthwhile practice in multiple formats, winning the six-team T20 Abu Dhabi Counties Super Cup before entertaining Warwickshire in a two-day red-ball clash.

“It’s been really good. We’ve got through an awful lot of work,” said Moores.

“We have different themes for the trip, and we got a lot of what we wanted out of it.

“The purpose is to identify where you feel like you are with your game and what you need to work on, which I think we’ve done well. The bowlers have done a lot of work to get miles in their legs and the batters have got time at the crease.”

Moores was especially full of praise for the value of allowing his bowling attack to gain extensive match practice, after a long winter without that particular competitive edge.

“It is a different feeling bowling in the middle. There is no net around you, if you bowl a bad one it goes for runs and you’ve got a scoreboard to measure you,” affirmed Moores.

“What we’ve found is we’ve turned the enthusiasm everyone had to get out here and play games - because we’ve been waiting a long time - into the focus you need to be successful.

“Wanting to do well and being full of energy is one thing, but if you can harness that, concentrate and deliver your skills, that makes a difference.

“The bowlers did brilliantly - they spent a lot of time on their feet. The batters had varied levels of success but it reminded them of the time and tempo you need to bat within four-day cricket.”

The creation of such value, Moores admits, requires a significant amount of preparation in advance to ensure a successful tour; especially one that involves the squad playing multiple formats.

“Credit to how [the tour] has been run - and to Cecilia [Allen, Cricket Operations Manager] who does a lot of work with Sporta [tour operator] - to make sure the schedules work,” said Moores. “We have had a lot going on simultaneously.

“We wanted to get the most we can out of the trip, so we’ve had red-ball nets going on while the T20s have been happening. The coaches and support staff have worked hard to make the most of the time we’ve had.”

Such fine-tuning allowed the T20 aspect of the tour to be especially successful, as Notts saw a winter of hard work vindicated by lifting the Super Cup trophy ahead of four other county sides, including 2024 finalists and 2023 winners Somerset.

“We played [the Super Cup] exactly how we want to play our T20 cricket,” said Moores. “Last year’s Blast was tough; we didn’t play the way we like to play, and this new group of players is going to be slightly different to the ones which were successful in the past.

“There is a freshness and energy about this group that we want to be able to bring when the T20 block comes around.

“The way we fielded was at a much higher standard, and the way we attacked and ran between the wickets, along with our power hitting from different players at different times was really important.

“Bowling wise, it is about being really clear on the plans and having the bravery to execute when the pressure is on. We saw a lot of that, hence why we won the tournament and beat very good sides along the way.”

In returning to Trent Bridge with a trophy, but also with a near-two weeks of valuable match practice in the bank, Moores freely admits he feels positive ahead of the new Rothesay County Championship season, which begins in two weeks’ time.

“We are in a slightly different place to last year which feels like a good thing. That doesn’t mean that people weren’t working hard last year, but we didn’t quite get the results we wanted so you have to find an alternative way of doing things,” he said.

“That’s just a case of refining in all three formats to show our skills for longer. Hass [Haseeb Hameed] mentioned that he feels we’re getting the right balance between creating a relaxed environment in the group, but when it is work time, we switch on and get stuck in.

“We have seen that this trip and I think it is something we are going to have to continue to get right when it comes to the rest of the season. It feels exciting.”

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