Nottinghamshire Consolidate Division 1 Status

08/12/2023 10:47 Share

The 2023 season was a big one for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club as the Vertu Motors-backed side returned to the top flight of the County Championship.

Nottinghamshire had been relegated from the top division back in 2019 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a change in format for the championship – which would only revert back to the traditional two leagues in 2022.

Teams were then placed in the division they would have been in at the conclusion of 2019 and as a result, Nottinghamshire were put into Division 2 despite the fact that the team had taken third in the revised County Championship the previous season.

It meant the team was ranked amongst the favourites for promotion and a successful year ended with Nottinghamshire heading back to the top flight as Division 2 champions.

Going into 2023, hopes were high of again pushing for silverware with the new season getting underway against Hampshire, but the opening day of the season would prove to be difficult as six wickets for Mohammad Abbas saw Notts dismissed for just 185.

Sitting 46 runs behind after the first innings, Notts could only reach 177 in the second and Hampshire knocked off the required runs for the loss of just two wickets to take the win.

The first game of the season at Trent Bridge would provide a first win however, with an impressive victory against Somerset despite the second day of the match being lost to rain.

Setting the visitors a target of 295 to win, Dane Paterson took five wickets – passing 500 career wickets in the process – as Notts secured victory by 165 runs.

A stunning 177 from Ben Duckett gave Notts the early advantage against Middlesex at Lords next time out, with Stuart Broad taking 4-68 to help secure a first innings lead.

With weather then playing havoc with proceedings, Notts declared at 158-6 in the second innings in a bid to force a result but Middlesex managed to chase down 249 with one over of the 40 allotted remaining to grab an unlikely victory.

Notts Cricket

Lancashire were the visitors to Trent Bridge as the season rolled into May and it was the bowlers on top on the opening day, with Brett Hutton taking five wickers as Lancashire were bowled out of 214 before Notts were then restricted to 119-5.

Haseeb Hameed came close to a century as Notts took the lead on a rain-affected second day with Lancashire then setting a victory target of 295 when they declared at lunch on the day four. Falling to 55-6 at one stage, Notts seemed to be hurtling to defeat but held on to reach 138-9 at the close and secure a hard-fought draw.

Rain would curtail day one of the next game against Northamptonshire but Hutton again took five wickets to bowl out the home side for 158, with Joe Clarke hitting 76 as Notts responded to take a first innings lead of just under 100.

A stunning spell of bowling from Dane Paterson saw him take 5-16 as Northamptonshire then collapsed to 72 all out in the second innings, meaning Notts took victory by an innings and 25 runs.

A fine 177 from Matt Montgomery was the highlight of a high-scoring draw with Essex before focus turned to the Vitality Blast, with a near month long break before Warwickshire were welcomed to Trent Bridge.

After the visitors piled on the runs to reach 571-9, Notts were skittled out for just 155 and forced to follow on, with Joe Clarke then producing a stunning innings of 229 not out that lasted well over eight hours to help save the game and salvage a draw.

Another five-wicket haul for Hutton against Somerset put Notts on the front foot after the opening day at Taunton, but a batting collapse on the second morning provided the home side with a way back into the game.

Notts Cricket

Centuries from both George Bartlett and James Rew saw Somerset post 514-8 in the second innings and Notts were then skittled out for just 92 to lose by 399 runs.

After a draw with Surrey, Notts were beaten by Hampshire having been set a target of more than 400 for victory but returned to winning ways against Kent at home – with Ben Slater hitting a century in the first innings and following it up with 87 in the second to leave the visitors chasing 407 for victory.

Five wickets from Patterson and four from Hutton saw Kent skittled out for 85 to give Notts victory by 321 runs, with the next County Championship game being the reverse fixture at Canterbury.

Zak Crawley hit a century as Kent racked up 446 in the first innings before a middle order collapse from Notts saw them bowled out for 265 and forced to follow on.

Joe Clarke hit an unbeaten 141 as Notts made it to 348 to leave Kent needing just 168 to win, but they would then suffer a collapse of their own – eventually clinging on for a draw.

After the weather prevented a result against Lancashire at Old Trafford, the season drew to a close at home to Middlesex, who needed a result in order to avoid being relegated to the second division.

Middlesex started well with 366 in the first innings but Notts responded well as Ben Slater hit 140 to take an 18 run lead. Needing to chase a win, Middlesex declared on 224 in the second innings and set about trying to bowl out the home side, but a further 49 from Slater helped Notts to reach their target and take the victory by two wickets.

That sent Middlesex down as Notts cemented a top six finish on its first season back in the top flight, providing a solid platform to take into 2024.

The County Championship season in numbers: