Ben Slater ready to put in the hard yards to cement place in Nottinghamshire side

Notts opener Ben Slater is ready to put the hard work in during the winter in a bid to cement his place in the side.
Ben Slater wants to cement himself in the Nottinghamshire starting side. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)Ben Slater wants to cement himself in the Nottinghamshire starting side. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Ben Slater wants to cement himself in the Nottinghamshire starting side. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Slater impressed during an early season loan spell at Leicestershire before returning to pile on the runs for Notts in their Bob Willis Trophy campaign.

And the green and gold Championship player of the season is now determined to kick on next season.

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“I will be working hard over the winter to cement my spot and to score more hundreds,” he said.

“Last winter I worked on technical and tactical bits as to how I would play at certain times.

“I worked hard on spin and I think that helped me progress through my innings this summer.

“A lot of things I worked on came into place which is always nice to see.

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“I didn’t start where I would have liked, but that is sport and you have to take it on the chin.

“To score the runs I did and to work my way back into the Notts side gives me plenty of confidence.”

And the former Derbyshire batsman believes Notts can also take plenty of belief from an improved 2020 campaign into next summer.

“We didn't perform as well was we wanted in 2019,” he added. “Everyone in that side wasn't happy and it hurt us.

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“We went away, we spoke about things and we had some honest words.

“We worked hard in the winter and you could see in 2020 that we were growing as a team and are getting to know each other more.

“Hopefully if we can get that first win it will snowball. We have got the confidence of what we did this year and we were unlucky not to get a win in many of the games.

“We were in positions to win games and didn't for various reasons. In 2019 we rarely got into those positions, so I think it's very promising.”