Notts Outlaws look to get their CB40 season back on track when they travel to Swansea on Sunday to face the Welsh Dragons.
The Outlaws’ loss to Surrey on Wednesday evening dropped them to third place in Group B and broke a run of four straight victories.
With only each of the three group winners and the leading second-placed team going through to the semi-finals, qualification is tough to achieve and Notts may need to win all of their remaining matches.
"Qualification would appear to be beyond the Dragons now but the two forthcoming matches against the Outlaws would appear to be crucial for Chris Read’s side."
The first of them takes place on a ground where they were victorious last season, with Adam Voges scoring an unbeaten century in a 21-run victory over the Dragons, the name of Glamorgan’s one-day team.
That was the tenth occasion when Notts had travelled to the St Helens Ground for a limited-overs fixture, although the 2005 clash was abandoned with not a ball bowled.
Of the other List-A fixtures, stretching back to 1974, Notts won five matches with three lost.
The two counties have met at Swansea in 23 championship matches over the years, with there being no doubt as to the most celebrated of the meetings.
In 1968 Nottinghamshire’s captain, Garfield Sobers, became the first cricketer to hit six sixes in a first class over, with Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash the unlucky bowler.
That incident has become one of the most written about moments in county cricket but two other players played significant roles in Notts winning that match. Brian Bolus scored 140 in his side’s first innings and Mike Taylor picked up 5-47 on the last day to seal a 166-run victory.
Two Nottinghamshire batsmen have scored double hundreds at Swansea, Reg Simpson in 1950 and Clive Rice, twenty-eight years later.
The Welsh Dragons currently lie sixth in the group, with just six points from seven matches played. They haven’t travelled well, losing at Hampshire, Surrey and Somerset – and being rained off in Scotland.
Their home match with Somerset was also affected by the weather but they have beaten Durham and Scotland in Cardiff.
Qualification would appear to be beyond the Dragons now but the two forthcoming matches against the Outlaws would appear to be crucial for Chris Read’s side.