COVERED 2024 Spring

COVERED 42 TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK and impressive impact – in his first season as captain, 1968, Notts rose from 15th to fourth in the table. It was another overseas all-rounder who led Notts to their next Championship title – indeed, South Africa’s Clive Rice remains the only person to skipper two title-winning sides. If Rice was less of a stellar name than Sobers when he arrived at Trent Bridge, he left it as an acknowledged superstar. In tandem with Nottinghamshire’s other import, the great Richard Hadlee, he led the county to the title in 1981 and the double of County Champion- ship and NatWest Trophy in 1987. The Green and Golds’ fifth title came in 2005 under the leadership of another overseas player, New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming. In Fleming, Notts introduced a fresh player as captain, an action not taken since signing Sobers back in 1968. They chose wisely; Fleming had the skill to pick players up when they were down and created a happy atmosphere that delivered the title. The next, and most recent, captain to deliver the title was emphatically one of Nottinghamshire’s own – even though Chris Read was born in Devon, he crafted his trade as wicketkeeper-batter at Trent Bridge. Read was hugely popular with players and members alike and duly delivered the red ball title in 2010, and white- ball trophies in 2013 and 2017, hitting half-centuries in the final of both triumphs. Hameed will hope to emulate those title-winning captains of the past whilst Notts will look to another new skipper to lead them to further glory in the Vitality Blast. Fresh from two seasons as the county’s top-scorer inT20 cricket, and success- ful stints in franchise cricket around the world, Joe Clarke is to be Notts Outlaws captain for 2024. The concept of a shared captaincy now seems to be the norm for counties and country, although relatively recent.The first time the Outlaws had a different skipper to the red-ball side was in 2015 when James Taylor led them. He was succeeded – and succeed he did – by Aussie all-rounder Dan Christian whose leadership and captain’s performances brought the T20 trophy toTrent Bridge in 2017 and again in 2020. But a shared captaincy is not quite as novel as it appears. Back in 1935 when Arthur Carr was ousted as captain, Nottinghamshire – with support and pressure from Club President Sir Julien Cahn – opted to split the captaincy between George Heane and Stuart Rhodes. Whilst the arrangement had some success – the club climbed from ninth to fourth in the table – it was not repeated as George Heane captained the side from 1936 until the outbreak of WorldWar Two and for the first season back. Following in the footsteps of larger- than-life characters and inimitable players, there is much hope that Hameed and Clarke’s tenures will bring about sought-after success for the Green and Golds, a mere 117 years after Nottinghamshire’s first domestic triumph. Stephen Fleming Dan Christian Joe Clarke