It's on the clubs social media.

Good news, definitely a player we should be backing. Got a decent amount of game time last season. Hope he gets a go in the Blast next year.

There we go then, cheers Highveld.

They (contractors) were measuring up v Essex and the toilet block under the Raglan was a no go zone with the groundstaff hut/tunnel area closed and fencing all up and around it and the lads sitting in a dugout on the Rae Bank side. Don't know how commercial construction/demolition and all that works to be honest, no idea whether their behind schedule or not.

It's fantastic news, it really is. Terrific player and person. Inspirational.

They've started no? During the last home game v Essex they appeared to be making a start.

Shouldn't do.

Despite not having played first class cricket since May 2024 has been selected in Pakistan's Test side v South Africa today.

I'd have said he's stepped up?

Just had a quick look, Garton and Gleeson are also in this comp. So is Moeen Ali.

What a player he was.

Fantastic news

Yeah he's done an interesting interview on the Kent website today. Sounds as though he could have carried but he's lost a bit of hunger and desire for the game so he's knocking it on the head. Very much leaving the game on his own terms.

Has confirmed his retirement from international cricket.

Totally. It's not just players either, it's coaches and backroom staff etc. We've never been the best with contract renewals re. players (i think we maybe improving slightly, couldnt really get worse). And we don't seem to well with recruiting coaches and staff. There's been numerous instances in the past couple or so years of positions being vacant for absolutely months on end.

A very talented, and very responsible, cricketer.

Notts openers put up similar numbers in 2024 and they finished beneath us though? Alex Davies was the 2nd highest run scorer in the division that year. We were 7th, they were 8th.

Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed are extremely good openers and have had a couple of good years I think this Notts team is excellent all round though, a strong battery of seam bowlers, some of whom have genuine pace. And they're young. In Liam Patterson White they have a solid spinner who can make big runs with the bat from number 8. Farhan Ahmed coming through aswell to give a further spin option. Lyndon James a seam bowling all rounder. Notts recruit heavily but 3 aforementioned are all homegrown, credit to them. They've lots of players who are really good but probably won't get called up by England, that's key. A middle order who convert starts.

I think they're a lot better balanced outfit than Surrey ever were lately. Surrey always seemed to be 100-5 before the tail would get them upto 330, somebody from 8 to 11 always made runs be it Clark, Joverton, Atkinson or whoever, and then the seamers took over. Generally relied of part time spin. Won 3 County Championships.

Just think Notts are a good all round team who have recruited heavily but also seem to have got their own academy working. Core of the squad has been together quite a while too. Patterson White, James, Hutton, Slater, Hameed, Joe Clarke have all been together quite a few years now, 6 or so I'd say. Steven Mullaney and Paul Franks as ex players now coaches obviously know the club inside out. Mick Newell too. They've stuck by Peter Moores through some pretty average times, some not so long ago. He's been head coach since 2016, with Newell as DoC, just think of all the change and upheaval we've had in that time.

Our issue is, and I've said it before, is that we seem to have too large a turnover in staff (players and coaches) every 2 or 3 years. Different bowling coaches, different bowlers, different head coaches, different Director of cricket (we're on our third one since 2021) etc...only Yates, Hain and Woakes remain from the side that won the Championship in 2021. We've just got no continuity and until we do we'll always feel like we're in a transitional phase.

Dry yer eyes Will Rhodes. And mind the gap.

Goodness me what a bottlejob that is.

We don't tend to add many runs from the tail either, we're a bit 6 or 7 out, all out still. Thompson should improve this. And Barker actually.

Exiled Bear wrote:

Weirdly enough, despite the batting collapses this season, I actually think that if we’d had a bowling attack capable of taking 20 wickets consistently that we’d have been competing right up near the top. We got ourselves into good positions in quite a few games (most of them, really) but it was generally our inability to bowl sides out that really cost us I think. Convert even only a couple of those 9 drawn games to wins and the table starts to look a lot different.

Agreed, we've batted alright, about 4 batters have averaged over 50. And the likes of Zen Malik and Mousley have shown theu can contribute. We've been powder puff with the ball though.