Stuart Broad said on his Instagram “any sport, red vs white, green vs blue, it’s a big rivalry” as he looked towards returning to action for Nottinghamshire ahead of today’s game at those from down the road and Derbyshire at the Incora County Ground.
Notts still await their first red ball win in three years but a victory of sorts against Worcestershire last weekend, one in which opening batsmen Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater impressed with an unbeaten 236 second innings pairing which saved the draw and gave confidence to Peter Moores side, how satisfying would it be for Notts to break that long awaited victory duck against their nearest and dearest this weekend.
Derbyshire have started their season in Group One of the County Championship with three draws, Notts prop up the six-team table with two draws and a defeat, but only nine points separate Nottinghamshire and second placed Worcestershire with still seven games left to play.
Brett Hutton and Jake Ball will miss the game with injury but Notts bowling attack will be boosted by the returning Broad who missed out v Worcestershire. Youngster Liam Patterson-White will look to continue his fine form with the ball whilst South African Dane Paterson is again set to headline the pace attack.
Fresh from two centuries, Haseeb Hameed will be full of confidence whilst Ben Slater plays against his old club off the back of a hundred himself.
Derbyshire drew at Durham last time out with Sam Conners taking 5/83 in the first innings with Wayne Madsen in the runs amongst the others, both teams will be looking for a first win of the year to kick-start their campaign and push themselves up the table in search of qualification for the Bob Willis Trophy finals.
First ball is at 11am today and we’ll keep you up to date over the next four days with how Notts get on.
Nottinghamshire from: Stuart Broad, Zak Chappell, Joe Clarke, Ben Duckett, Joey Evison, Luke Fletcher, Haseeb Hameed, Lyndon James, Tom Moores, Steven Mullaney, Dane Paterson, Liam Patterson-White, Ben Slater.
*Main image @TrentBridge Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater will be hoping to add to their run scoring.
