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SHRECK: NOTTS CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE CAREER PINNACLE

Nottinghamshire's Charlie Shreck says winning this year's LV County Championship would be the "pinnacle" of his career.

The 6ft 7in seamer missed out when his team won the title in 2005 as he was recovering from a stress fracture in his back.

And the 30-year-old, whose table-toppers will clinch the championship if they beat Hampshire at Trent Bridge this week, is desperate to make up for that this year.

He said: "I was happy for the guys when they won [in 2005] but I did feel like I was not part of the union or the squad. I hadn't offered anything at all to the team.

"So this year, having played every game, if we win it will be amazing for me. It would be the highlight of my career. It would be great to be the best domestic team of the year.

"Four-day cricket is the pinnacle of domestic players' careers and if we can win then we will go down in the annals. It is a six-month season and it is the toughest challenge we have."

Two months before an England XI will take on a West Indies Select XI for $20m in the Stanford Super Series Twenty20 match, Shreck is in no doubt that the longer forms of the game are more important.

"I think county cricket is vital," he continued. "I view Test matches as the pinnacle of cricket. The four-day domestic games are feeders for that. In Twenty20 games, which only take three hours, anyone can win.

"The longer the duration, the better team wins, so it must be the pinnacle of our game both domestically and internationally.

"Twenty20 games are not really a test. The competitive nature of four-day games are in the field with the tactics - it is the hardest form and that is why there is such esteem in playing it. It deserves more money - we should take the money brought in from the Twenty20 game and put it into the four-day game."

Ahead of the final game, Shreck added: "We are very confident. We are a very relaxed team and we have managed to get wickets at the right times, bowl teams out and score enough runs when we have needed to. We have not really had any stutters in four-day cricket."

Labels: Charlie Shreck, LV County Championship, Nottinghamshire

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 4:27 pm | Permalink | Comments

BROAD SHOULD REMAIN IN ENGLAND SAYS NOTTS CHAIRMAN

Stuart Broad would be better off staying in England and developing his skills in the County Championship rather than travelling to Sri Lanka - according to his County chairman, Mick Newell.

The 21-year-old fast-bowler flies out to Columbo with the England team this evening (THURS), and is due to make his Test debut after impressing in One-Day Internationals this summer.

But Nottinghamshire chairman Newell, who in August was delighted to have signed "the best young prospect in England" from Leicestershire CCC, will now not see his new acquisition until January.

And even then Broad could well be selected for the tour to New Zealand, meaning he will be unavailable for county duties until the last week in March. But Newell thinks that Broad could be surplus to requirements for Peter Moores' side.

"England are strong in the bowling area with Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and James Anderson, with Chris Tremlett as a make-shift bowler," he said.

"It will be a competitive area for Stuart internationally. I happen to think that some more county cricket over the next two or three years would help him much more. That's how I thought it would develop, but I didn't envisage he would be on this tour."

Broad has followed his father - eighties Test match opening batsman Chris - to Trent Bridge, and Newell believes that his batting skills will help the youngster gain a starting spot in Sri Lanka, perhaps ahead of time.

He continued: "Stuart started off as a batsmen who bowled a bit and I think that if he does play in the Test side he is very likely to find himself batting in the number eight spot. Indeed the fact that he can bat at eight might help him get in the team."

So far Broad has attended a handful of nets at Nottinghamshire, and his chairman is frustrated by the prospect of his precocious talent being used solely by England.

He said: "Obviously we have an interest in having Stuart play as much as possible for Nottinghamshire. But his elevation to the Test team has been quicker than people thought, and that obviously restricts his performances for us.

"Stuart has been to some of our training sessions that we have started over the last couple of weeks," he added. "Hopefully he will get more involved after Christmas for us, if he is not selected for the New Zealand trip."

The New Zealand tour finishes on March 23, and lengthy series against the Kiwis and then South Africa will mean that Broad, if selected, will not feature regularly for his county until September.

Labels: cricket, England, Nottinghamshire, Sri Lanka, Stuart Broad

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 5:42 pm | Permalink | Comments