Can Notts stay on top against a strong Hampshire side?
Nottinghamshire have had a week off, but remain at the top of Division One, while Hampshire came away with a tame draw against Durham. They sit in fifth place, 15 points back and will be keen to close the gap.
Hampshire have come out on top in each of the three Championship games played between these two sides over the last two years, but this looks a far more assured Notts outfit, led by Haseeb Hameed, who now seems to be thriving in his role as captain. He leads their run scoring this season with 443 at an impressive average of 110.75, while fellow opener Ben Slater has 241 runs at 34.42, and Jack Haynes 237 at 47.40. Notts had the services of Ben Duckett in their last game, but it waits to be seen whether England will make him available for this match, with the Test against Zimbabwe starting in two weeks.
Notts have been indebted to Fergus O’Neill’s wickets, the Kiwi leading the Division’s bowlers, but he has now been replaced by Mohammad Abbas, who Notts have poached from this week’s opposition. He obviously knows the Hampshire batters well and it will be an interesting contest. O’Neill has been well backed up by Brett Hutton and Josh Tongue, each with 15 wickets, but Tongue’s involvement with England, will likely mean he is not available for this match. Farhan Ahmed continues to impress, and has taken nine wickets at 31.77 with his off spin.
Hampshire won their opening game against Yorkshire, and have followed this up with three draws. Kyle Abbott has been his reliable self, taking 15 wickets at 20.40, while Brad Wheal has stepped up this year, taking 14 at 28.00. Sonny Baker provides genuine pace, having made the move from Somerset over the winter, while Liam Dawson continuing excellence with bat and ball has again led to calls for his selection by England.
Hampshire have been a little short of batting bonus points, and have had to deal with the loss of James Vince from their red ball side. Mark Stoneman has come in to open alongside Fletcha Middleton and scored his first half century for his new club in the last game. Nick Gubbins leads the way with the bat, having scored 333 runs at 55.50, and he has been well supported by Ben Brown, with 242 runs at 121.00 and Tom Prest with 208 at 41.60.
This looks like being the most open Division One title battle for a number of years, and these are two of the sides we expect to be fighting it out. Notts have been depleted by England call ups and the end of O’Neill’s contract, so will have to rally under Hameed.
Key Players
17-year-old Farhan Ahmed has a significantly better first class record than his older brother Rehan, having taken 34 wickets at 26.00 in his 9 matches, compared to Rehan’s 54 wickets at 44.22 from 30 games, including five Tests. So far this season he has picked up nine wickets at 31.77, and with the dry weather continuing, Notts will be hopeful he can take a few more.
For Hampshire, this slot could be filled by Liam Dawson every week, but Ben Brown has made an excellent start to the season. The 36-year-old former Sussex skipper moved along the coast in 2022, and has this year been given the red ball captaincy following the decision by Vince to concentrate on white ball cricket. He has scored well over 10,000 first class runs at an average of just under 40, and as well as his runs, he has already taken 13 catches behind the stumps this summer.
Team news
We wait to hear if Nottinghamshire’s Dillon Pennington has recovered from the side strain he picked up a month ago.
Nottinghamshire squad (possible): Haseeb Hameed (c), Mohammad Abbas, Farhan Ahmed, Joe Clarke, James Hayes, Jack Haynes, Brett Hutton, Lyndon James, Freddie McCann, Matthew Montgomery, Ben Slater, Kyle Verreynne (wk)
John Turner’s loan spell to Lancashire has now ended and he may come back into the squad.
Hampshire squad (possible): Ben Brown (c,wk), Kyle Abbott, Toby Albert, Sonny Baker, Liam Dawson, James Fuller, Nick Gubbins, Brett Hampton, Fletcha Middleton, Felix Organ, Tom Prest, Mark Stoneman, Brad Wheal
Weather and Conditions
The forecast is for warm, dry weather, with temperatures in the low 20’s.
This will be the fourth out of five matches Notts have played at Trent Bridge this season. Two of those games have resulted in home wins and the hope is for a good contest between bat and ball.
Date: 9th May 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
