From T20 trouncings in midsummer to a captivating Championship charge in September, the latter half of the 2021 season was teeming with tension and triumph aplenty.
The second half of our retrospective includes reflections on record-breaking Blast victories, the emergence of bright white-ball talents and a resolute pursuit of red-ball honours.
July: Qualifications, thrashings and new opportunities
The end of the T20 & Championship group stages, the start of the Royal London Cup and the welcoming of England back to Trent Bridge provide telling footnotes from the seventh month on the calendar.
First, it was over to that man Samit Patel yet again as another local rival was sent packing from Trent Bridge without a point to show for their efforts.
After restricting the Leicestershire Foxes to 154 all out, the experienced all-rounder struck his second half-century of the summer as a 99-run partnership with Ben Slater, himself on T20 debut for the Outlaws, gave the hosts victory with 2.1 overs to spare.
The Green and Golds had hit their stride in T20 cricket and two further standout performances, one from a well-known figurehead and another from a rising star, handed the Bears a trouncing on their own patch.
August: Fresh faces, national honours and new opportunities
As the calendar switched to August the Outlaws took centre stage.
The red-ball game hit pause until early September, unless your cricketing interests drew you to the opening Test of the flagship series of the summer, England v India at Trent Bridge.
A youthful Green and Gold outfit, albeit able to call on the experience of Luke Fletcher, Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson to name a few, dispatched Leicestershire at the picturesque outpost of Welbeck.
The trio combined to take all ten Foxes wickets for just 144, a total that would be chased down with a minimum of fuss and in double quick time.
However, despite being in the midst of summer, the inclement conditions wreaked havoc with the Outlaws’ plans in the coming matches.
September: Monumental efforts, personal milestones and a trio of triumphs
And now, the end is near…
Nottinghamshire faced less of a final curtain in the month of September, and more of a best of the best, fighting it out for the right to be crowned County Championship winners.
First up, a trip to Taunton. Many a team have tried and failed to leave with the spoils in recent summers, with Somerset losing just one red-ball match since 2017 at home.
In this encounter, however, there was only ever one team in it.
Nine players made 24 or more as Nottinghamshire went onto post 448 in their first innings, thanks, in large, to Liam Patterson-White's day to remember.
Having shown increasing promise with the bat across 2021, the all-rounder converted his efforts in the South West into a maiden First-Class century.
A grateful trio of bowlers in the form of Messrs Luke Fletcher, Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson rewarded the efforts of the batting unit with a high-class bowling display.
Somerset batters came and went as Tom Moores snaffled five catches behind the stumps, an effort of 107 in reply allowing Steven Mullaney one of his easier decisions of the summer.
Following on, it looked as though Somerset would fare even worse, falling to 86-7 as the trio of pacemen returned to their work.
Only some late order resistance stopped the Nottinghamshire train in its tracks before Patterson-White and Fletcher put the finishing touches on an innings and 160-run triumph; the club’s first at Taunton in 36 years.
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