Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read knows the value of a solid start to an LV= County Championship campaign, being a veteran of two trophy-winning seasons himself.

That is exactly what he is aiming for this year as he looks to utilise the early season pitches to gain quick results.

“The pitches are good for results early on and that helps seam attacks that bowl well on these types of wickets,” said Read.

“I look in the dressing room and think to myself what an amazing top 6 we have.” Chris Read

“We need to start with a bang again and get some wins under our belt and sustain that winning momentum throughout the season.”

Read is pleased with the quality of a squad that has increased depth with the addition of Ajmal Shahzad and the younger players being a year more experienced.

“I look in the dressing room and think to myself what an amazing top 6 we have,” he said.

“I also look at the bowlers and I think who I can leave out for the first game of the season. It is a great dilemma to have.”

Whilst early season focus will be firmly on the red ball, Read hopes his side will prove competitive in all three competitions.

“With the depth of the squad we have the same players won’t be playing in both red ball and white ball cricket all the time,” he said.

“This is a luxury as, if we have injuries or international call-ups, we are in a good position to cover them,” he said.

“The lack of silverware was very disappointing last season but we never really got ourselves in a position to challenge.

“We didn’t make the most of the opportunities we had and that is why we came away with fifth place in the Championship and a quarter-final loss in the T20.”

Not for the first time, Read has been ensuring his hand-eye co-ordination is kept at optimum level by competing for his local hockey team during the winter.

“There are massive crossovers between the two sports and the benefits of keeping fitness levels high will be seen throughout the season,” he said.

After two weeks of pre-season friendlies on English soil, Read hopes the weather stays good throughout the season so matches aren’t shortened.

“We had a good start last season and the faded away but that wasn’t because were losing games,” he said.

“We were getting into good positions and the game was ending in a draw or play was being lost due to rain.”