COVERED SPRING 2021

21 @TRENTBRIDGE BRETT HUTTON Brett Hutton’s departure was born out of an abundance of bowling talent that had made maintaining a place in the Nottinghamshire side beyond tough. He made his First-Class debut in Abu Dhabi in March 2011. In their previous season, Nottinghamshire had secured the Championship at OldTrafford with Paul Franks, Andre Adams, Darren Pattinson, Charlie Shreck and Ryan Sidebottom at the peak of their powers and Stuart Broad making telling cameos. Bowling depth was underpinned by a Second Eleven packed with talent. Hutton, Luke Fletcher and Jake Ball graduated to become firmly established on the county scene while others sought game time elsewhere or left the system. “I think back to my days in the Notts Academy and we had a great crop,” Hutton reflects. “Players like Sam Kelsall, SamWood, Scott Elstone and Akhil Patel made their debuts young but then fell away. Adam Shepherd was prolific in the Second Eleven but didn’t break through and others like LukeWood, Matt Milnes and Billy Root took a bit of time to get established and then kicked on to become seasoned professionals. “There is so much at play when you’re coming through the ranks at a county club and you’ve always got one eye on where a space might open up for you. “I wanted the bowling all-rounder spot and I had watched Paul Franks make it his own at Notts. He retired and I stepped in but had he been five years younger I may not have had that chance. “The batsmen that were in the academy at that time, they were looking up at the likes of Michael Lumb, JamesTaylor and Alex Hales and they Having remained resident in Nottinghamshire throughout his stint away from the Club, Brett Hutton’s commute from his Bingham base is now considerably shorter. The returning seamer now hopes to plot a course towards sustained red-ball success and is under no illusions to the extent of the task.