As part of their efforts to regain match sharpness and outdoor practice, a significant proportion of Nottinghamshire’s professional staff have travelled to Australia ahead of the LV= County Championship curtain-raiser on April 6.

Assistant Manager Wayne Noon has travelled to Australia to join up with members of the squad and assess their progress thus far.

“We’ve been lucky enough to have used the Melbourne Cricket Ground for net sessions,” he said.

“The bowlers had a session as part of the Melbourne Stars’ preparation for their Big Bash semi-final, and yesterday we were able to start practicing red-ball cricket too.

“From a personal perspective, the coaches have been excellent, too, offering me one-to-one sessions to help my development.” 


Nottinghamshire and Victoria have enjoyed a longstanding professional relationship, personified by former Outlaw David Hussey. The Australian all-rounder spent eight summers at Trent Bridge, before announcing that after lifting the Yorkshire Bank 40 trophy at Lord’s, that the 2013 season would be his last with the county. 

Since then, he has invited the travelling Nottinghamshire professionals to train with the Melbourne Stars, as well as making the most of their excellent facilities in the coming weeks.

“David Hussey is a legend both in Nottinghamshire and here in Victoria, he and the club have bent over backwards to accommodate us here,” added Noon. 

“The lads will be staying in Melbourne, bowling with Victoria over the next four weeks as they prepare for the Shield.

“It’ll be excellent red-ball practice for them ahead of our season. 

"Hopefully this relationship with Victoria will continue, and blossom."

“I’d like to think that in time we’ll be in a position where we could develop it so that players can travel across the world to Nottingham and Melbourne and play cricket at a high-standard for these two great clubs.” 

The main news to dominate the cricketing press this week also came from Australia, with the news of Andy Flower leaving his post as England Coach. Noon was positioned well to experience the situation from the country where the news broke.

"The news came as a massive shock; both on a personal level and to the Australian people I’ve met while I’ve been here," said Noon. 

"Mick’s name has been bandied around, but it all depends what the ECB will be looking for in their next man. Only they can make the call, of course."