2014 SEASON
- LV County Championship Division 1: 4th
- Royal London One Day Cup: losing semi-finalists
- NatWest T20 Blast: losing quarter-finalists
- Championship Captain: Chris Read
- Twenty/20 and Royal London: James Taylor
For supporters, 2014 was a tantalising season of what might have been. In the Championship, Nottinghamshire were in contention with two games to go but in a must-win penultimate match were soundly beaten by eventual winners Yorkshire. Despite a hundred on debut for Jake Libby, another heavy defeat followed at Sussex in the final game, leaving Nottinghamshire in a still creditable fourth position. Alex Hales scored three centuries and posted an average of 50.21, while Riki Wessels made 1,197 championship runs, just ahead of Samit Patel on 1,098. Phil Jaques was signed on a short contract and rarely failed, making 894 at 49.66, from 20 innings. Luke Fletcher and Harry Gurney both took 38 championship wickets, just ahead of Peter Siddle (37) and Andre Adams (36). Chris Read took 54 catches and one stumping.
After an inconsistent start in the T20 Blast a home quarter final was secured with a surge of victories in the later group matches, with Wessels scoring particularly heavily in a number of games. Nottinghamshire set a testing 197 for Hampshire to chase, with Samit Patel clubbing 53 not out from 24 balls. However, James Vince led his side to victory with 93 not out, benefitting from being dropped early on.
In the Royal London Cup an exciting group match with Somerset at Trent Bridge ended in a tie, both sides scoring 261-8. Alex Hales blazed a 90-ball hundred against Warwickshire to ensure victory and Derbyshire were seen off in the quarter final. In the semi-final at Durham, Ben Stokes was dropped early and went on to smash 164 in 129 balls to leave Nottinghamshire chasing a demanding 354 to win. Despite a fighting century from James Taylor, Nottinghamshire fell short by 83 runs.
Andre Adams brought the curtain down on his remarkable career at Nottinghamshire, having taken 344 wickets at 24 runs a piece over eight seasons at Trent Bridge. He was the club’s leading championship wicket taker in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Other players to leave Nottinghamshire at the end of the season were: Ajmal Shahzad, Phil Jacques, Sam Kelsall, James Franklin and Peter Siddle.
The First Investec Test Match at Trent Bridge (9th-13th July) was drawn, with all bowlers except Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5-82) struggling to take wickets on a slow, low track, which made for fairly dull cricket. Even James Anderson, batting at number 11, was able to score 81 in a partnership of 198 with Joe Root (154*). Anderson’s was the longest ever Test innings by a number 11 (232 minutes). The Indian number 11, M. Shami also scored a 50 in a last wicket partnership of 111 in the Indian first innings.
The Third Royal London One Day International (30th August) was won comfortably by India. England could make only 227 all out, with the Indian spinners effectively strangling the innings. India knocked the runs off with four wickets down and seven overs to spare.