After an excellent season which saw him score a century at Lord’s from the top of the order, lift the Yorkshire Bank 40 trophy (at Lord’s) and win Nottinghamshire’s Player of the Season (at Trent Bridge), all-rounder Steven Mullaney hasn’t been resting on his laurels.

At the end of October, he made arrangements to travel to Bangladesh and join up with struggling Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity for the last few fixtures of the Dhaka Premier League.

Now, on his return to Nottingham, he has had a chance to reflect on his time away.

"It was a whirlwind, everything from getting the call to getting on the plane happened within 48 hours, and now, a week later, I’m back again,” said Mullaney.

“Everyone I had spoken to before travelling said to go out to Bangladesh with an open mind, it’s another world at the end of the day.

“I’ve been out to India before, so I knew what to expect, but it’s something that you can’t really prepare yourself for. I’m glad I went with an open mind, and enjoyed it.

“I was lucky enough to fly out with Gareth Cross, who I know from Lancashire, I wasn’t alone, which made life a little easier.

“We stayed in quite a rich area, called Gulshan, so the accommodation was good, the food was good and we even made it out to a couple of five-star hotels for meals on a couple of nights.

“The people were really friendly, too. Everything I was told beforehand was true, and I’d advise anyone to go out there and do the same.”

“Paul Franks texted me saying ‘Cricinfo says you’re out’ so at the end of the day there’s nothing I can do." - Mullaney on his controversial wickets.

Despite hailing the trip as an excellent experience, Mullaney will have hoped for a better return on the pitch. Tasked with travelling as one of the club’s overseas player, there was pressure to perform and keep Khelaghar from finishing bottom, something which, unfortunately, they couldn’t achieve.

“There were three overseas players in our team, and there was certainly a little extra pressure,” he said.

“That’s what you want though, to go out there and play under pressure should mean that you come back and play with less.

“We ended up losing three out of three, so it didn’t exactly go to plan.

“Even with that, it was great to test myself against spin.

“In the first two games I didn’t face many balls at all, but the last game I was lucky enough to get a few runs, and even then only faced maybe 12 or 15 balls of seam.”

Not going to plan sums up Mullaney’s first two matches fittingly. Having travelled to Bangladesh to join up with Khelaghar, he failed to score in either contest, the second against Abahani, whose ranks were bolstered by fellow Outlaw Riki Wessels. Those wickets weren’t just down to the turn of the ball though, it seems.

“The first two games, there was a little bit of controversy about my wickets,” said Mullaney.

“Paul Franks texted me saying ‘Cricinfo says you’re out’ so at the end of the day there’s nothing I can do.

“I can’t do anything about what the umpires do; it’s out of my control.

“Despite the first two ducks, I feel that I bowled well through the tournament. Riki got hold of me a little bit in one game, it definitely helped him to play against me day in, day out.

"Just by being there and playing in that environment could stand me in good stead for the BPL auction." - Steven Mullaney.

“He only flew in the day before, and certainly struck them well for a man who had only arrived one day earlier.

“He looked like he’d been training since the day the season finished.

“I think that its opened my eyes to see how I can improve my game and what I can work on now I’m back here.” 

After his first experience of the Dhaka Premier League, Mullaney has set sights on a return to Bangladesh in the New Year, this time in the BPL. With the auction taking place shortly after Christmas, he had looked to acquit himself well in his short time in Dhaka.

“It’s something I’ll be looking to do again next year, and speaking to Mick (Newell), it’s something I’d advise the other lads to go and do too,” he said.

“I’d have liked to have got a few more runs, and put myself in the spotlight a bit more but it didn’t happen, but just by being there and playing in that environment could stand me in good stead for the BPL auction.

“Anything could happen with these things. I’d like to put my name in the hat, and hopefully go back over there again.

“October was a big month for me, with getting married and my stag do, but now I’m back it’s time to knuckle down and give everything a good crack until Christmas, with Watto (Paul Watson), and the new physio John.

“I’ll do as much as I can to get myself ready for the New Year, and see what happens then.”