Background
Notts Outlaws meet Kent Spitfires at Trent Bridge on Wednesday evening. Both sides have already played one fixture in this season’s Yorkshire Bank 40 competition.
On Sunday the Outlaws defeated the Northants Steelbacks by 83 runs at Wantage Road, whilst the Spitfires were successful with a thrilling last ball 1-run victory over Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston 24 hours later.
Both sides batted first in their weekend wins, with James Taylor scoring 108 and Samit Patel 95 in the Outlaws win, whilst an undefeated 98 from Brendan Nash anchored the Spitfires innings.
Head to head
In domestic one-day competition Notts have met Kent on 46 occasions, winning 19 times but losing 21 of the other matches. Five contests have been washed out and in 1969 the two counties produced a tie.
At Trent Bridge the sides have met on 24 occasions, with the home side leading 13-8, with a couple of matches ruined by the weather, in addition to the one tie.
Last Meeting
The last time that Notts and Kent were paired together in the same one-day qualifying group was in 2010 when rain ruined both matches.
At Trent Bridge the conditions had already restricted the contest to just 10 overs each. Kent had a score of 78-2 on the board after just 6.1 overs when the wet weather returned and wiped out the rest of the match.
The return at Canterbury was limited to just 16 overs per side, with Kent emphatically coming out on top. Darren Stevens scored an unbeaten 49 as his side made 135-3.
Nottinghamshire’s reply floundered from an early stage and they could only post 93-9.
History
The 1969 Player’s County League match at Trent Bridge officially resulted in a tie. Rain reduced the Kent innings to just 27 overs, with a score of 134-9 being posted. Notts revised target was 112 in 20 overs but they ended on 111-7, with England’s Derek Underwood taking 4-16 for the visitors.
The 1993 match at Trent Bridge featured a number of individual and team records (below) but was also memorable for the introduction of coloured clothing to our domestic one-day game.
Notts wore their green strip for the first time as they pulled off a stunning run chase, overhauling Kent’s 264-9 in sensational fashion, reaching their target in just 35.2 overs.
Stats
Nottinghamshire’s highest score at Trent Bridge is the 296-6 they posted in 1989, whilst Kent’s highest at Trent Bridge is 317-8, scored in 2002.
Paul Johnson’s 167* in 1993 is the highest score by a Notts batsman, with Kent’s Trevor Ward making 131 in the same match.
Chris Cairns’ 6-52 in 1993 are the best bowling figures by a Notts bowler, whilst Kevin Saxelby and Chris Lewis are the other home bowlers to take five wickets in an innings against Kent at Trent Bridge.
Kevin Jarvis claimed 5-24 in 1985, the best for Kent.
The 1993 match also saw two outstanding second wicket stands. For Notts, Paul Johnson and Tim Robinson put on an unbroken 213, a county record stand for any wicket. Coincidentally, in that same match, Kent’s Trevor Ward and Carl Hooper put on 218 for the second wicket also.
Played For Them Both
Current Notts favourite Ben Phillips began his career with Kent, making 27 first class and 26 one-day appearances for them between 1996-1998.
Others to have represented both counties have been Dave Halfyard, Greg Blewett, Paul Strang, Rob Ferley, Mark Ealham, Mark Davies and Charlie Shreck.
Jimmy Adams is the current Head Coach of Kent. The former West Indian Test star played for Nottinghamshire during the 1994 season.
Milestones
Michael Lumb has scored 4997 runs in List-A cricket (one-day) from 169 inns with an average of 31.62.
Alex Hales has scored 1469 List-A runs for Nottinghamshire from 43 innings with an average of 35.82.
Team News
Despite his selection for the England Lions match which begins against New Zealand at Grace Road on Thursday morning, James Taylor has been permitted to play for Notts Outlaws the previous evening.
Mick Newell, Notts director of cricket, has indicated that the eleven players that were successful in the opening group match at Northampton are likely to feature again.