Experience key as Notts’ Project Promotion kicks off in earnest
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE may boast some talented youngsters on the verge of breaking through but Riki Wessels insists experience, not youthful exuberance, will dig them out of Division Two as the new season gets underway today.
Notts begin their campaign against Leicestershire at Grace Road today in search of redemption, after a disastrous 2016 saw them go down with a whimper – winning just one fourday game all season.
Senior players, including Wessels, failed to fire but the 31year-old is adamant Peter Moores needs to stick by his tried and trusted squad members and resist relying too much on the likes of promising duo Matthew Carter and Tom Moores.
“It is all well and good saying give the youngsters a chance, but to get out of Division Two you’ll need experience and the older heads to come through,” explained Wessels.
“Competition is always good though. It’s going to be a hard season. You see sides go down and get stuck for a while, so the big thing is not to be complacent and get a good start, but then not fall away.”
After scoring over 1,000 runs in 2015, Wessels’ personal form regressed badly last year as he scored just 489 runs in 12 matches before being dropped for the final quarter of the campaign.
This year, he is a man on a mission, desperate to set the record straight and rediscover his best form in a bid to show the new coaching combination of Moores and Paul Franks he should retain his place long-term.
“It was tough last year. I’d had two good seasons in Championship cricket so where I found myself last year was hard, but that’s the nature of the beast,” added Wessels.
“It’s one of those things. If you look at it, I did get a few scores in amongst the bad run, but that’s how cricket goes.
“It’s always going to be there (the disappointment of last season). It’s part of cricket and moving forward.
“I try to learn from the
disappointment and take the lessons into this season.
“If I can continue as I did in white-ball cricket and back that up with one of the two seasons before the last one in red-ball cricket, I’ll be happy.”
Moores and Franks may be new to the role after replacing Mick Newell and Wayne Noon, but they will want an immediate show of intent at a Leicestershire side who have won just six County Championship matches in the last three years.
“It’s been quite strange to go from where we were last year to now six months later,” Wessels said.“It’s good to see, but let’s see if we’re still like this come September
“It’s totally different for me (under Moores and Franks). They work differently.
“It’s a bit of a change and it’s been quite nice. People have been open to working differently and it’s going well so far.”
Leicestershire also have reasons to be optimistic this season, and skipper Mark Cosgrove has genuine promotion hopes.
The Midlands club are a different beast to the one which was continually rolled over season after season a few years back, winning four times last term.
They might not be Division Two heavyweights just yet, but are no longer the division’s whipping boys and batsman Cosgrove insists this season’s crop are the best he has been in charge of.
“This is my third season as captain, and I do feel it’s the strongest and most balanced group we’ve assembled,” said Cosgrove.
“Most seasons, a captain will wish he had another option, a quick, a spinner, a batter, whatever, but that’s not the case now. It also means if we pick up an injury here or there we have real cover.”