Video: New head coach Peter Moores on England players available for the opening games
Notts cricket head coach Peter Moores is readying his team for a division that ‘is not easy to get out of’ as the Outlaws prepare to visit Leicestershire on Friday.
In part two of four of our pre-season build up to the start of the cricket season, Nottinghamshire’s new head coach speaks on relegation pain, priorities and being competitive in all tournaments.
The county cricket club start their competitive campaign on Friday (March 7) away at Grace Road against Leicestershire in the County Championship Division 2.
After winning their opening Division 1 game last year against Surrey at Trent Bridge, Notts did not win any of the following 15 fixtures which saw the club relegated.
Former England head coach Peter Moores wants to bounce back to Division 1 of the County Championship with Notts immediately.
He said: “Relegation hurts for a big club especially when you’ve been in the division for a long time so that has to land on everybody at first and you’ve got to feel it.
“But then you’ve got to scrub yourselves down and start to prepare for that through the winter months.
“Now we’re into the looking forward bit in what will be a tough season, it’s not going to be an easy division to get out of, and we have a clear goal of building a team that can win the championship and not just win promotion.
“We’re in the building phase but we’re desperate to make an impact and get ourselves back up there.”
Moores says winning the division is a big priority.
He said: “We want to be competitive in one day cricket as well but you just have to play good cricket.
“You win the league because you play well and score runs and take your wickets which is what we will focus on.
“Early on in the season is a great chance to go out there and get some wins because of the pitches.”
Moores has been impressed with what he has seen from Notts in their preseason preparations.
He said: “Preseason has been good as we’ve had some decent weather – we went away for a couple of weeks which went well and we’ve had three days at Cambridge where it didn’t rain.
“Everyone had time with the bat there and everyone is gearing up well for the game against Leicestershire.
“We’ve played well across the board so far, the bowlers look good and we’ve got some senior lads in there like Stuart Broad coming back from an injury who’s starting to hit his straps but generally in good shape.
“It’s going to be a tough squad to pick for Leicestershire which is a good place to be in as a coach.”
Part 3 with Notts and England opening batsman Alex Hales comes out on Tuesday April 4. Click here for part 1 with Notts’ outgoing captain Chris Read. For our Sports Week cricket special, tune in to Notts TV at 7.30pm on Wednesday April 5 on Freeview 7, Virgin 159 or Sky 117.
