Notts Fitness Coach Kevin Paxton hopes to see improved fitness and reduced injuries in evidence when the domestic season resumes this month.

Paxton spent his first year at Trent Bridge establishing tailored programmes for the Nottinghamshire players and says that he has seen the benefits of 12-month contracts and winter training. 

“We’ve had a good winter in the gym doing a lot of work to improve strength and power and pre-season has been about conditioning, speed and agility,” said Paxton.

"This stage of pre-season is about making sure that everyone is on top of their fitness and taking steps to recover from each net session so they can perform well in the next one.

“Last pre-season, I was getting to know the guys and getting to know how fit they were. I know now how they react to different sessions. We’ve developed a variety of ways to improve their fitness and we’ve seen some big gains.”

Paxton has worked closely with the younger members of the squad to aid their transition into full-time cricket as well as improving the conditioning of more experienced players.

“Luke Fletcher has come back in great condition, Mark Footitt is fit and ready to go, Mark Wagh has trained well in the off-season and a lot of that is down to the fact that they are on 12 month contracts.”