2016 was a disappointing season as the Club were relegated from the 1stDivision of the County Championship after nine years in the top flight. In the white ball competitions there was a hint of what was to come but eventually there was again disappointment. However Trent Bridge witnessed two thrilling One-Day Internationals.
Notts' only win in the Specsavers County Championship came in the first game at Trent Bridge when they beat promoted Surrey. Steven Mullaney’s excellent 113 helped Notts gain a first innings advantage of 221 and Surrey were asked to follow on. A five-wicket haul from Jake Ball meant Surrey set Notts a target of 169 to win, and the home side secured a three-wicket win despite a middle order collapse.
A heavy defeat at Old Trafford was followed by draws against Yorkshire and Middlesex. At Trent Bridge, Notts came within 1 wicket of beating Yorkshire. However the remainder of the season saw 8 defeats and 4 draws - 3 rain-affected. Notts were relegated along with Durham (due to financial problems) whilst 2ndbottom Hants stayed up.
Notts used 3 overseas players during the Championship with Australian bowler Jackson Bird playing in 5 early games (15 wickets), T20 captain Dan Christian playing 3 then South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir contributing 25 wickets (including 7-112 at Somerset) in the later games.
Jake Ball lead the way with the ball taking 53 wickets, including a hat-trick in the first over against eventual champions Middlesex, whilst Steven Mullaney (1,148) and Samit Patel (FIND) both passed 1000 runs for the season with the bat.
There were back-to-back totals in excess of 400 in the Royal London One-Day Cup led by the record-breaking efforts of Michael Lumb and Riki Wessels but in the end it wasn’t enough as the Outlaws finished 6thin the North Group and out of the play-off places.
In the Nat West t20 Blast, captain Dan Christian led the Outlaws to 8 wins that comfortably won the North Group. A crowd of 13,515 saw the Outlaws beat the Essex Eagles in the quarter final thanks to a man-of-the-match bowling performance by Samit Patel with 4-20. However, in the semi-final at Edgbaston the Outlaws failed to overcome the eventual winners Northants Steelbacks.
Trent Bridge saw two spectacular 50-over Royal London One-Day Internationals.
Alex Hales stepped out at his home ground to obliterate the Pakistan attack and amass 171, the highest score by an Englishman in 50-over cricket, before England notched 444-3, the highest ever total in ODI cricket.
The record-breaking antics of Eoin Morgan’s side at the end of August overshadowed the thrilling tie between England and Sri Lanka that Trent Bridge witnessed in the middle of June. Liam Plunkett proved to be the hero on that day, hitting a last-ball maximum to match Sri Lanka’s score.