Notts cricket players swapped bats for racquets with top stars of the Aegon Open Nottingham.
Some of the world’s best tennis players are taking part in the tournament at Nottingham Tennis Centre in Lenton, with the women’s event getting under way at the weekend.
Today Notts cricketers Greg Smith, Samit Patel and Jake Ball swapped sports with British tennis stars Laura Robson and Heather Watson at Trent Bridge to promote the competition and Notts’ T20 Blast campaign.
And in serve-off a Notts Bowler Jake Ball managed to serve at 93mph while Laura Robson was the best of the professionals with a 90mph serve.
Robson also padded up to face a cricket ball in the nets against Samit Patel – who ruthlessly bowled the 22 year-old with his first delivery.
Patel said: “I found playing tennis quite difficult and I didn’t even make the net in one of them.
“It’s tremendously hard and the girls have incredible skills in such a highly skilled sport and you have to have great hand eye co-ordination.
“It’s great for the city and the country that the Aegon Open is here and the girls are two great ambassadors for the sport.”
It was good to get tips
Notts bowler Jake Ball said: “As you could see from my first couple of serves it’s not something that I’m used to doing.
“I like to play tennis so it was good to pick up some tips from them.
“When you get a tennis racquet and start to serve wide and long it gets frustrating, especially as we are sports people and want to be the best we can in everything.”
VIDEO: Laura Robson and Heather Watson speak about their cricket experience
The two tennis stars enjoyed turning their hands to cricket and learnt from the three Notts players.
Heather Watson said: “I found that a lot of fun but it was a lot more challenging than I thought, especially the batting.
“All the guys we met today though were very nice and gave us some really good tips.”
Watson and Robson are both on centre court at the open on Tuesday.
For updates on the action watch Notts TV News at 5.30pm, 6pm, 7pm and 10pm every night this week and visit nottstv.com for more.
