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Tale of a Trophy
While the influence of Broad and Swann,
late additions to the Outlaws squad, was
unmistakable, Notts had oozed class
throughout the campaign with 17 players
contributing to the triumph.
“I think to a certain extent have almost
neglected our one day game in the past, by
trying to concentrate on red-ball cricket,”
said Patel.
“We’ve brought Lumby in, him and Alex
Hales play very well at the top, then there’s
myself, JamesTaylor and Dave Hussey in
the middle, it was an excellent one-day
squad.
“But it isn’t just the big hitters and the way
Harry Gurney has bowled up front has
been fantastic.
“Mull did his job in the middle and Jake
Ball has been a revelation.”
While Notts’ batsmen have been rightly
lauded for their achievements in the
shorter format, the Outlaws were similarly
aggressive with the ball.Their pace attack
of Ball, Shahzad and Gurney became
feared, while Mullaney and Patel were
disciplined and hugely economical.
“We had six lads who took more than
ten wickets each in this summer’s
competition,” said Mullaney.
“In that respect we were going well
compared to a lot of the other counties and
as a unit, we looked after each other.”
“Batsmen are always developing their
game, and we need variation in our
bowling to beat them,” added Jake Ball.
“To have these changes means that our
versatility really gives us an edge. Ajmal
has added a lot to our side. He offers
something different to Harry and myself
too, his pace and power is raw.”
After building a squad with all the
hallmarks of an excellent white-ball team,
Notts started theirYorkshire Bank 40
campaign in style. First up was the vastly
improved Northants, who would eventually
go on and win the Friends LifeT20 trophy,
as well as secure promotion to Division
One in the LV= County Championship.
“The first match really sticks in my mind,”
said Jake Ball.
“Northants had done a lot of work through
the winter, and were looking
to be much more than the team we’d
played before.
“They had put a lot of effort into becoming
a good white-ball team, and to go and beat
them convincingly was a big step for us.”
The Outlaws embarked on a spectacular
unbeaten run of seven victories from
seven matches.Trips to Edgbaston and
New Road yielded convincing wins,
while Kent and the Netherlands were sent
away fromTrent Bridge humbled.The
most important, for Mullaney at least,
came later.
“I think the pivotal point in our campaign
came playing against Netherlands in
Truro,” said Mullaney.
“It was one of those fixtures where
everything was set up to be against us.
We had to stay over three nights, for one
match.The wicket was a minefield and
they had nothing to lose.To go ahead and
win that match convincingly really lifted
us.”
Northants and the Netherlands were both
convincing victories, which set the Outlaws
well on their way to Lord’s and ultimately
theYorkshire Bank 40 trophy. For Patel,
however, the key fixture lay in the Friends
Life t20 and in defeat: Notts’ quarter-final
loss at home to Essex Eagles.
“That defeat galvanised us,” he said.
“We didn’t turn up that day at all, didn’t
play to the standard we wanted. Cricket
goes like that sometimes and it was up to
us to come back and play well towards the
end of the season.”
Notts returned to 40-over duty with the bit
between their teeth. Still visibly smarting
from the defeat against Essex, the Outlaws
subjected the ever-improving Northants
to a heavy Hales-led defeat, before a rare
slip up againstWorcestershire three days
later.
“There were certainly a few nerves flying
about after that loss at home,” said Jake
Ball.
“There were thoughts of not qualifying in
the back of my mind at that stage, before
that we’d taken it as a given that we’d make
it through. It was worrying.
2013
“We had six lads who
took more than ten
wickets each in this
summer’s competition.”
Steven Mullaney
Chris Read salutes the Lord’s
crowd after reaching 50
–
David Hussey’s arrival had
instant impact
–
Riki Wessels played an
important role in the Outlaws’
journey to Lord’s