Nottinghamshire may face two of their former players when they head to Old Trafford to face Lancashire this week.

Both Kyle Hogg and Ashwell Prince spent the briefest of spells at Trent Bridge, Hogg in 2007 and the South African a year later. The visitors will also have a tie to the opposition, with Steven Mullaney having left Manchester for Nottingham a couple of years ago.

Those players are the latest in a line to represent both counties, following on from the likes of Jack Bond, Mark Crawley, Jason Gallian, Nathan Astle and Steve Elworthy.

Elworthy, the current ECB Director of Marketing and Communications, ended his first class career with a two-month spell at Notts in 2003.

“The opportunity to sign came out of the blue really,” he reflects. “I’d just had the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup, despite being in South Africa’s original squad of 18 but then losing out when it was reduced to 15.

“I got the call to come to Notts as the overseas player with Chris Cairns away with New Zealand and Stuart MacGill on duty with Australia.”

The all-rounder played in five first class fixtures, making a top score of 52 and taking a total of 20 wickets.

“I really enjoyed my time at Notts, playing with guys like Paul Franks and Chris Read, who are still there. Kevin Pietersen and Usman Afzaal were still at the club, Bilal Shafayat and Charlie Shreck were doing well and there were a host of really talented youngsters coming through.”

Elworthy admits he’d already grown fond of Trent Bridge, having made his Test debut on the ground, as well as making an appearance there in the 1999 World Cup.

“I loved playing there but that Test match in 1998 is something I’ll never forget. It featured that epic duel between Allan Donald and Michael Atherton.

“To stand at mid-on and watch that was incredible. Donald just cranked up an extra yard of pace in a passage of play that has now become the stuff of legend. We thought Atherton had gloved one but it wasn’t given and then he did nick one but Boucher put it down.”

Elworthy had earlier spent one full season of county championship cricket, playing for Lancashire in 1996.

“I was really excited to be playing county cricket but I was being brought in as the overseas player to replace Wasim Akram. Those were really big boots to fill because he was a phenomenal player and whilst I wasn’t a Wasim, I had a pretty good season and helped the side get through to two cup finals.”

Now working for the ECB, the Zimbabwe-born 47-year old, was previously involved as the tournament director of both the 2007 and 2009 T20 World Cup competitions.

“That role enabled me to meet some really good people at Nottingham, people like Lisa Pursehouse and Derek Brewer. I remember spending an hour at Cape Town airport chatting to Derek and remember him being so passionate when talking about everything Trent Bridge had to offer.”