Mick Newell has warned his players to be ready for a rebound from opponents Hampshire when Nottinghamshire begin their LV County Championship match at the Rose Bowl tomorrow.

Hampshire were thrashed by defending champions Durham inside three days at the Riverside, being bowled out for 105 and 96 in their two innings.

But Notts Director of Cricket Newell knows Hampshire are always a tough prospect at home and with the likes of Dominic Cork and Imran Tahir in their bowling attack, will be smarting to prove a point.

He said: “We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us at the Rose Bowl and must be prepared for a possible backlash from the Hampshire players.

“Dominic Cork always rouses himself when he’s up against us, and Imran Tahir’s leg-spin is a threat. They may have had a difficult game at Durham but that doesn’t count for anything come the start of this match.”

Newell was pleased with the team’s drawn match at Edgbaston, which saw Notts pick up seven bonus points from a possible eight, largely thanks to Mark Wagh’s 147, and has named an unchanged squad to travel to Hampshire.

“I was actually surprised both sides got as many runs as they did,” he said.

“The pitch offered more for the bowlers than we expected, but I think both attacks were a bit rusty coming back from Twenty20 cricket and that meant there were more scoring opportunities for the batsmen.

“Mark batted very well and really helped us along to a decent total. We’ve been accumulating a good number of bonus points in our Championship matches so far and I’m pretty happy with our form in four-day cricket.”

Squad:
Will Jefferson, Bilal Shafayat, Mark Wagh, Samit Patel, Adam Voges, Ali Brown, Chris Read (capt/wkt), Mark Ealham, Luke Fletcher, Darren Pattinson, Charlie Shreck, Jason Brown.