Notts fight back after bowlers start well

After being 83-5 this morning, the Nottinghamshire batsman have fought back on Day one of the LVCC Division One match against Surrey at Trent Bridge, ending a rain affected day on 178-5.

The first bit of surprising news was that Gareth Batty and Chris Tremlett had been left out of the final X1, and Zander de Bruyn was the stand in captain. Fair enough that the conditions didn’t suit the spinners, but I would have dropped Kartik, not Batty, as he has been our best bowler over the last few weeks, and also gives a further batting option. Also surprised that Tremlett was left out, but the swing of Linley was preffered to Tremlett’s bounce.

That gave Tim Linley and Chris Jordan a chance to prove themselves, and on an overcast morning with a greenish pitch, Zander de Bruyn had no hesitation in choosing to bowl first when he won the toss. After Wessels and Hales gave the hosts an electric start, it was the Viscount who made the breakthrough, when he had Wessels caught by Jordan at first slip.

The wicket slowed the Notts run rate considerably, and when Hales chopped on to Lewis, and Jordan trapped Lumb LBW, a good start by the Surrey bowlers had been confirmed with Notts 53-3 inside the first hour. Samit Patel was the next man to go, when he edged a legside Meaker delivery into the gloves of Steve Davies. A bonus wicket for Surrey, and 4 had gone down before lunch.

Surrey weren’t finished yet though, as Meaker drew James Taylor into a drive, and Davies did the rest behind the stumps. In the same over, Voges was dropped by Spriegel at third slip, as the Australian and his skipper Read took their side to lunch on 118-5. A costly mistake by the returning Spriegel.

After a solid start for the batsman after the break, heavy rain came across the ground, and there was a delay. The players managed to get back on the park for a couple of overs, before the rain came again to cause a further delay. Play once again commenced at half past 4, with a scheduled 40 overs still remaining in the day.

The partnership between Read and Voges started to look dangerous, and after we had them 83-5 earlier on, it was a very good recovery being 165-5 when the players got back out there. With the run rate over 4 an over, the Surrey bowlers had to tighten their lengths and try and apply pressure to the experienced pair, who looked relatively comfortable at the crease.

However, after being out there for less than 10 minutes, with the score moved onto 178-5, the bad weather was back, which ended the day prematurely.

Overall a good start to the day by our bowlers, restricting the second place team to 83-5 is a great effort, even though there were conducive conditions, but we failed to capitalise on that good situation as Read and Voges batted extremely well. All the bowlers bowled well in patches today, with Meaker picking up two wickets but going at over 4 and a half an over, but Jordan was probably the most probing of the lot, picking up the wicket of Lumb and not going for a run in his first 4 overs.

Tomorrow morning we will be hoping to nip out one of the set batsman early, break into the tail, and restrict them to under 250. However, if Read and Voges continue the way they did this afternoon, an above par of over 300 could be on the cards.

Finally I would like to congratulate Gareth Batty, Stuart Meaker, Jade Dernbach and Steve Davies for being named in England’s preliminary 30 man squad for the ICC World T20. I am very happy for them, especially Gareth, who has put in so much effort over the last couple of years, and even though he probably won’t make the final 15, it is good that he has been recognised.