It is fair to say that Mick Newell has had better weeks during his 14 seasons in charge of Nottinghamshire.
Having slumped to the bottom of Division One on a chastening innings defeat by the champions, Yorkshire, last Wednesday, Newell, the club’s director of cricket, was forced to concede his team are in a relegation fight for the second half of this season.
They began that second half with plenty of relegation about them but not much fight; in contrast Worcestershire, one of their rivals at the bottom, were purposeful and unswerving in their task.
In the circumstances it was not the kind of day to be hosting a members’ forum at Trent Bridge. Newell was forced on to the back foot at a gathering of more than 200 people during the lunch interval, defending among other things his dual role as an England selector, Nottinghamshire’s winter recruitment and the fly-by-night Twenty20 signings of Darren Sammy and Dan Christian.
Nottinghamshire were only two wickets down at that stage but things got worse by the hour on a pitch that has, in old bowling vernacular, “done a bit”. Their batting, after they were put in, bore the hallmarks of a team infected by Twenty20 fever: too many tried to force the pace when it was unnecessary.
“If people play poor shots, does that mean they are not showing any bottle? I just think we have got people out of nick and not playing very well. You just have to accept that,” was Newell’s assessment.
Alex Hales, one of those who has been in touch, returned from England duty and made a fatal error in shouldering arms in Joe Leach’s first over after switching from the Radcliffe Road end. Worcestershire were also handed their initial breakthrough when Michael Lumb flicked nonchalantly but straight to square-leg.
Not for the first time in recent innings, James Taylor shuffled across his stumps and missed a straight one. His namesake, Brendan Taylor, sleek early on, was slowed considerably after reaching a 66-ball 50 and became frustrated; seeking a release shot down the ground, he spiralled a leading edge to mid-off.
Then, for a 20-minute spell the Notts batsmen kept playing and nicking. There was also a comedy run-out to put into the mix as Luke Fletcher’s exaggerated turning circle saw him defeated, going for a third, by Ed Barnard’s throw and Ben Cox’s improvised take and removal of the bails.
At that point it did not appear they would register a batting point. But the momentum altered when Barnard threw them one, quite literally, as his shy at the non-striker’s end rattled to the rope. Another 40 runs followed as Wessels and the last man, Andy Carter, chanced their arm.
The hosts’ luck ran out, however, when the pair recalled from loans, Fletcher and Carter, incurred hamstring and abdominal strains that will almost certainly curtail their bowling in this match. It left the workload to the left-arm spinner Samit Patel in conjunction with Brett Hutton and Ben Hilfenhaus, who struck twice in four overs before the close.
“In an ideal world you would want to come out in the morning with Hilfenhaus and Hutton and go for it because we need wickets,” said Newell.
“But where do you go after 12 o’clock? The reality is we will have to have Samit bowling most of the day and Hilfenhaus and Hutton taking it in turns from the other end. That’s the only way you can manage a three-man attack.”
By that stage Newell had become used to dealing with curve balls, having been lambasted by one member at lunch for selecting Hales ahead of younger talent. That being the same Hales who had contributed 543 runs in five matches before the club’s slump set in.
