Background

Nottinghamshire return to LV= county championship action on Sunday, when they face Yorkshire at Headingley (11am). The home county won their latest fixture, against Northants, this week to cement their position in second place in the table, with 99 points.

Notts currently have 87 points, also from seven fixtures, and are currently fourth.

Head To Head

In first class cricket there have been 250 meetings between the two counties, with Yorkshire leading the way with 89 victories to Notts’ 48. There have been a further 113 draws and another five matches were abandoned.

A variety of venues, including Scarborough, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Hull, Harrogate, Middlesbrough, Sheffield and Bradford have hosted the fixture, with the first match at the county headquarters in Leeds being staged in 1894.

Somewhat surprisingly, only a total of 26 first class fixtures have been played at Headingley, with Yorkshire winning 10 of them, Notts’ four, 11 matches have been drawn and the brave patrons who turned up to the 1926 match didn’t see a single ball bowled on any of the three days.

Yorkshire’s most recent win at the venue was in 2006 – and that was their first since 1984. Nottinghamshire’s four triumphs came in 1923, 1989, 2004 and 2011.

The three most recent draws took place in 1991, 2008 and 2010.

Last Time

Nottinghamshire were the reigning LV= County Champions when they last visited Headingley for a first class fixture.

That match, played in April 2011, featured a dramatic turn-around in fortune as Notts came back to win after conceding a huge first innings advantage.

Chris Read won the toss and elected to bat first but things didn’t go as planned, with Rich Pyrah (5-58) and Ryan Sidebottom (4-30) bustling Notts out for just 143 in 35.4 overs.

Alex Hales offered the only resistance, scoring a punchy 85 from only 89 deliveries, with 10 fours and 2 sixes. 15 was the next highest score.

Yorkshire sped into the lead before the close of day one, eventually making 336 with Andre Gale contributing 145 not out.

Trailing by 193 Notts were again indebted to Hales, this time making 83 from 113 (12x4 1x6) but still entered the third morning behind, and in trouble, on 175-6.

Captain Read and Steven Mullaney stubbornly defied the home attack, adding 150 for the 7th wicket but the all-out total of 337 meant that Yorkshire needed 145 in just over four sessions.

The match didn’t even make it to the final day as Lyth, McGrath and Gale fell in five overs before tea.

Notts were held up by an undefeated 50 from Jonny Bairstow but wickets fell steadily at the other end and it was left to Luke Fletcher, who had claimed 4 wickets in the first innings, to deliver the final blows by removing Sidebottom and Oliver Hannon-Dalby within the space of three deliveries to skittle the home side out for just 86.

Fletcher (3-27), Shreck (3-29), Franks (3-24) and Patel (1-4) had been the bowling heroes in the 58-run triumph, with Andre Adams off the field and unable to bowl.

Michael Robson, a young academy player, deputising for the New Zealander as a fielding substitute, also got in on the act by taking a stunning catch to dismiss Adil Rashid.

Played For Them Both

Notts are likely to renew acquaintances this week with one of their former favourites. Ryan Sidebottom (pictured) spent seven years with Nottinghamshire, sandwiched between two spells for Yorkshire. A left-arm quick bowler, he played in 65 first-class matches for Notts, taking 216 wickets at 25.20. Forty-seven List A matches produced 43 wickets and a further 25 wickets came in 25 Twenty20 contests. A member of the side which won the County Championship in 2005 and 2010, Sidebottom was also an England regular in all three formats of the game during his time with the county.

Ryan’s final appearance for Notts was in the 2010 title-winning match against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

Amongst others to have appeared for both counties are three current Nottinghamshire players, Phil Jaques, Ajmal Shahzad and Michael Lumb - plus Greg Blewett, Brian Bolus, Mike Bore, Mark Broadhurst, Gareth Clough, Younis Khan, Ashley Metcalfe, Barry Stead, Richard Stemp and Alex Wharf.

Stats – Yorkshire v Notts (all venues)
Highest Team Total


Yorks 572-8 dec (2013) Scarborough
Notts 545-7dec (2010) Headingley

Lowest Team Total

Yorks 32 (1876) Bramall Lane, Sheffield
Notts 13 (1901) Trent Bridge

Highest Individual Score

Yorks 285 P Holmes (1929)
Notts 251* DJ Hussey (2010) Headingley
Best Bowling

Yorks 10-10 H Verity (1932) Headingley
Notts 8-32 JC Shaw (1865) Trent Bridge

Did You Know?

Alex Hales bowled a couple of overs in the match against Sussex, which finished on Wednesday. It was the first time he had bowled in a championship match since 2010. The previous year he claimed his only 3 career wickets to date, with the first two coming against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge – Jonny Bairstow (ct by Ali Brown)and current team-mate Ajmal Shahzad (clean bowled).

Book Review

Former Nottingham Post cricket correspondent Chris Waters has just released a book chronicling the incredible achievement of Yorkshire’s Hedley Verity, who took 10-10 against Notts in 1932.

Waters, now with the Yorkshire Post, has spent many years researching first class cricket’s best-ever bowling performance and the book will be of particular interest to all fans of the game, particularly Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire supporters.

10 for 10 Hedley Verity and the Story of Cricket’s Greatest Bowling Feat by Chris Waters is available now, published by Bloomsbury at £10.99

Milestones

Michael Lumb needs 23 runs to reach 2,000 at Headingley alone, more runs than he has scored anywhere else.

Samit Patel has taken 194 first class wickets, Ajmal Shahzad has taken 193. Luke Fletcher has scored 985 first class runs.

Tickets

Tickets for all LV= County Championship matches played at Headingley will be available on the turnstiles on match days.

Both sides of the ground, St Michael’s Lane and Kirkstall Lane will have cash turnstiles. Prices

£16 – Adult
£10 – Concession (65 and over)
£10 – Junior (16 and under)

Coverage

BBC Radio Nottingham will be providing on-line ball-by-ball commentary for the entire match. Access the link via the BBC Sport website.

Dave Bracegirdle provides coverage for BBC Radio Nottingham on all of Nottinghamshire’s LV= county championship matches. Follow him on twitter @bracecricket

For live updates, a full scoreboard and audio commentary visit Trent Bridge Live.