Bowling all-rounder and centurion in last weekend’s contest with Hampshire, Lyndon James says he is on a mission to narrow the margins between his best form and his worst, as he looks on to the final match week of the first phase of the Vitality County Championship.
James is part of the 13-man squad to travel down to New Road for this Friday’s four-day fixture against Worcestershire - starting at 11am - as Liam Patterson-White re-links with the team after a one-game loan to Northamptonshire.
Right-armed medium-fast bowler James not only showed his prowess with the ball towards the back-end of the 2023 campaign, but has also demonstrated a return to form with the bat in 2024.
He fell just four runs short of a fine century against this weekend’s hosts in the reverse fixture at Trent Bridge, and most recently secured a game-changing ton against Hampshire after Notts found themselves in pending danger at 50/6.
Handed the number eight shirt in September by departing club legend Stuart Broad, who cited James’ all-rounded ability as the key component to such a decision, James recalls pulling a slightly uncertain face to such praise.
“I shook my head at the time because I’d just had quite an indifferent year with the bat,” he joked, “but this year has been pleasing - I’ve clicked in and out with the ball, which has been frustrating but that’s the nature of bowling - on the batting front it’s been really pleasing to get some scores on the board, it’s nice to get the rewards.
“Especially when I was younger, I was never very good at managing my own expectations,” he added, “After having a good year in 2022, I thought I was just going to keep rising up, but I didn’t really consider that it’s quite a step going from Division Two to Division One.
“So this year I didn’t want to put any numbers on anything, I wanted it to be about putting myself into as many match-winning or game-changing performances as I possibly can. It’s such a fickle game, so putting numbers on your targets might work against you.”
At his best, the seamer can be a devastating weapon with the ball, as shown in a six-wicket haul which expensed just 74 runs in exchange at The Kia Oval. His focus now lies on consistency in his performances.
“At times I’ve felt threatening but other times I felt like I was back at the start of my bowling from 2021.
“I’m just trying to narrow the spectrum of my performances, making sure my worst isn’t far away from my best and vice versa.”
As is the nature of elite sport - and sport at all levels - form can come and go, and James knows that mastering the psychological challenges of battling dips in form can be one of the greatest allies a sportsperson can have.
“Things can be going great and then, all of a sudden, you can nick a couple and suddenly you find yourself out of form,” James said.
“It can spiral out of control, which it kind of did for me. The coaches said at the end of the season, ‘look, it’s not just disappeared overnight - let’s go back to what served you so well over the previous couple of seasons’, and that worked really well.
“Cricket is such a mental game, especially for a batter. Sometimes when you get out it just isn’t your fault, you could have faced an absolute worldie of a ball and that’s that - you just have to pick yourself back up and go again. A run of low scores can easily cause you to spiral, so it’s about managing your expectations.”
Having worked tirelessly over the winter to recalibrate his batting game, reaching three figures in an innings for the first time since 2022 was a moment of relief for James.
“I slept so badly the previous night,” he laughed, “My mind was running through how all the different scenarios would play out, but when we actually got out there I felt pretty calm - except for when Dane (Paterson) tried to run me out.
“It was such a relief to get over the line, especially having not gotten one last year. There are always doubts if you’re going to do it again; after getting three in 2022 I wondered if I was ever going to get another.”
The end result of a narrow defeat to Hampshire somewhat dampened that moment in retrospect for James and his team mates, but plenty of silver linings still shone through for the 25-year old, who knows the best is yet to come from the Green and Golds.
“It was one of the best games of cricket that I’ve been a part of, to be honest. Really good pitch that had a lot in it for both sides, and we probably fell 50/60 runs short of what would have gotten us over the line.
“It was a great game to be a part of but we were gutted not to be on the right side of the result.
“If you look at the recent Warwickshire and Lancashire games, I thought we were brilliant. Lancs was pretty close but we haven’t had our perfect game yet, so to speak. We’ve not quite clicked in all facets of the game for all 12 sessions - which is frustrating for us - but we know we’re not far away.
“We’ve had a lot of really strong individual performances as well, so I think everyone can take a lot of confidence.”