Nottinghamshire look to return to winning ways in T20 Blast at Worcestershire

After playing all of their opening four matches at Trent Bridge, the Outlaws head for Worcester off the back of Friday evening’s unexpected defeat to Leicestershire Foxes, a result and performance that Mick Newell termed ‘unacceptable’.

Newell, Notts’ director of cricket, saw his normally free-flowing top order stutter and fail to reach 150, before defeat was confirmed by the awarding of penalty runs after his side failed to bowl their overs in the allotted time.

“The cut off time was up there on the scoreboard all evening,” fumed Newell. “I could see what was going to happen half an hour earlier. They were too slow in taking their positions in the field and there was just too much general chit-chat going on.”

Jake Ball was again the pick of the Outlaws attack on Friday, picking up three wickets at the end of a week that had seen him also record career-best figures of six for 49 in the championship win over Sussex.

“I was a little bit disappointed with the way I bowled on Friday,” said Ball. “I was probably a little bit loose and went for too many runs but that can happen in T20 cricket, that’s the way T20 goes sometimes. We’ll go to Worcester and look to bounce back straight away. We know it’s a fairly long tournament and hopefully we’ll get a few more wins under our belts and get through to the quarter finals again.”

Defeat to their local rivals was a tough pill for the Outlaws’ to stomach, having sent out a side crammed full of attacking firepower, both with bat and ball.

England’s Stuart Broad played, making his first T20 appearance for his county since finals day in 2010. He won’t be available for the New Road clash but another seasoned international is ready to step in and replace him.

Australia’s Ben Hilfenhaus has joined the Trent Bridge ranks for the remainder of the season and is eager to sample county cricket for the first time in his career.

“I’ve always been keen to get over here and do a county stint,” he revealed. “Luckily enough this opportunity has come up and I’ll be here for the next four months, which I’m excited about.”

The 32-year old is expecting to find English conditions suit his style of bowling. “Yes, hopefully it should as there’s generally a little bit of swing here. If there’s cloud around it usually swings, that seems to be the general rule, so hopefully I can do my bit for the team, starting on Sunday.”

Hilfenhaus will step into an eleven that will also include both Alex Hales and James Taylor, prior to them linking up with the England squad for the forthcoming One Day International series against New Zealand.