Nottinghamshire Men v Essex Men
Metro Bank One Day Cup
The John Fretwell Centre, Sookholme
Tuesday 05 August | 11am start
The Men’s Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign kicks off this week, starting with a trip to Mansfield to face Nottinghamshire.
Essex Men will be led by batting coach Tom Huggins for the 50-over tournament, and kick off the One Day Cup campaign with an opening-round fixture against Nottinghamshire, who finished fourth in last year’s Group B.
The One Day Cup presents exciting new opportunities for the squad to showcase their skills and for different players to step up to the fray in an action-packed August.
Tom Westley will captain the side, leading a youthful but experienced squad into the campaign, as they hope to lift this year’s trophy come September at Trent Bridge.
Squad
Tom Huggins has named a 12-player squad for the trip to Mansfield.
Simon Harmer has been granted paternity leave after the birth of his child during the County Championship fixture against Warwickshire.
Dean Elgar is not available to play in the One Day Cup whilst Sam Cook, Paul Walter, Michael Pepper and Jordan Cox are all participating in the Hundred.
The Inside Line: Tom Huggins
Last Time We Met: Nottinghamshire
Essex pulled off a crushing victory by seven wickets at Trent Bridge over Notts Outlaws thanks to Robin Das, opening and still unbeaten, posting a maiden white-ball century off the last ball of the match.
The 20-year old Jamal Richards, one of five in the Essex side raised like Das in north-east London, earlier claimed 5-31 with wholehearted, bustling pace.
His best figures in all cricket halted an Outlaws surge to 96-1 and later helped induce a plummet from 163-4 to 218 all out despite Ben Slater’s 47 and 52 from South African Matt Montgomery.
Other youngsters then saw Essex maturely home as Das and Noah Thain, neither of them yet past their 23rd birthday, put on 185 for the third wicket. Das finished with 100 from 119 balls whilst the teenager Thain fell with victory five runs away for 83.
Nottinghamshire squad: TBC.
Nottinghamshire Preview
Captain: Haseeb Hameed
2024 finish: Fourth (Group B)
2024 leading run-scorer: Ben Slater (398)
2024 leading wicket-taker: Rob Lord (11)
Why they can win the competition: The Outlaws lacked consistency last year but with confidence high after a good season with the red ball they have enough quality – especially in the batting – to mount a challenge, even if call-ups to The Hundred will test the depth of their bowling resources, with the likes of Rob Lord and James Hayes hoping for the opportunity to impress.
Player to watch: Opener Ben Slater is a batter opponents always hope to see the back of early, given an apparent penchant for List A cricket. His 68 appearances in the format have yielded more than 3,000 runs at a remarkable average of 52.75. A career-best 164 in a win over Surrey at Guildford last year took his List A centuries tally to eight.
Young gun: The outstanding batter in Nottinghamshire’s Second XI this season with close to 700 runs, 18-year-old right-hander Sam Seecharan is highly thought of at Trent Bridge and after making his senior debut in the last of the Outlaws’ Vitality Blast fixtures is likely to be given a chance to shine in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign.
Final thought: The One-Day Cup sees Notts stalwart Paul Franks take on the role of head coach, with Peter Moores joining up with Trent Rockets for The Hundred. Franks – 20 years a Nottinghamshire player – has been assistant head coach since 2017, helping the county win the Blast (twice), the One-Day Cup and promotion to Division One in the Rothesay County Championship in that time. This is his first opportunity to lead the county to a senior title in his own right.
How To Watch
If you are unable to attend any of the match days, the game will be available to watch via the Essex Cricket Matchzone, through the YouTube livestream.
Daily highlights will be available after each day’s play via the Club website and social media. Live updates will also be provided through the Club’s various social platforms and channels.
Tickets
Tickets are on sale at £17 an adult, £11 for over 65s & under 21s with under 16s priced at £6.
Tickets are sold on an unreserved seating basis, with loose seating available at the venue on the day.
The John Fretwell Centre is located on Sookholme Road, Mansfield – NG19 8LL.
To secure your seats for Tuesday, visit the link below:
