Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club in 2005
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Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club are playing their cricket in 2005 in Division One of both the County Championship and the totesport League. They start the season at 7-1 to win the title, and with a new captain, New Zealand's Stephen Fleming.
The first first-class game of the season was against Loughborough UCCE, a draw which merely provided batting practice to Notts. The first Sunday League game was a disappointing rain-affected loss against Middlesex. They then drew against the same team in the County Championship, before scoring their first win over four days against Sussex County Cricket Club. They then lost by the narrowest of margins on the Sunday to Lancashire, and then by just 4 runs to Glamorgan the next day.
On 4 May Nottinghamshire eased past Wales Minor Counties into the Second Round of the C&G Trophy. They then routed Surrey by an innings in their home ground The Brit Oval before failing to chase a low target in the Sunday League against Worcestershire. On 18 May they lost to Sussex in the Second Round of the C&G Trophy, before losing to Kent and beating Gloucestershire in the Championship.
The first Championship game of June saw them lose narrowly against Hampshire, whereas their first Sunday League game, against Glamorgan, was abandoned without a ball being bowled. After six straight National League games without a win, they finally won comprehensively against a collapsing Lancashire, before drawing with Sussex at Arundel in the Championship. They came back to earth at Southgate, however, where they were easily beaten by Middlesex in the National League. Nottinghamshire struggled initially in the Twenty20 Cup, losing to Leicestershire Foxes, but came back to beat Lancashire before losing to Yorkshire, in what looked to be a very close fight for the quarter-final spots in the North Division.
However, Nottinghamshire weren't to take part in that fight. They lost to Durham, Leicestershire and Derbyshire in quick succession, and not even a win over Yorkshire helped as they finished with six losses and two wins, and finished bottom of the North Division. That poor form didn't carry through into the Championship, however, as Nottinghamshire quietly sneaked into second place with a win over Glamorgan, and they also recorded a rare one-day victory thanks to a century from captain Stephen Fleming against Hampshire. They enjoyed two further games without a loss, beating Warwickshire by ten wickets in the Championship, and playing a no-result with Northamptonshire in the National League.
In the last week of July, Nottinghamshire drew a match against Surrey, failing to push home the advantage after gaining a 90-run lead on first innings. August began with a week off, but on the 9th of that month, they bowled Gloucestershire out for 87 to take an eight-wicket win in the National League. A rain-ravaged Championship match at Trent Bridge with Middlesex ended in a draw, but their title hopes were dented after only scoring seven points after being bowled out for 181 in the first innings. However, an innings victory over Warwickshire gave them a temporary lead in Division One. Rain cancelled the match at Chelmsford against Essex, as Nottinghamshire suffered their third no-result of the season. Six days later, they lost to Northamptonshire, cementing their last place in the National League. In the County Championship, however, fortunes were reversed, as they beat Glamorgan comfortably to go top of the Championship yet again. They extended their lead with a two-day victory over Gloucestershire, and also beat Gloucestershire in the National League, in a low-scoring match where 233 runs were scored in total, for the loss of 19 wickets.
The return of captain Stephen Fleming following international commitments boosted Nottinghamshire, as they beat Worcestershire by five wickets in the National League to give themselves more hope of avoiding relegation in that competition. Then, Nottinghamshire secured the County Championship title with a 204-run win over Kent. However, Hampshire criticised the Kent captain for "ridiculous" tactics[1], which robbed his team of any chance of the Championship title, and Hampshire got their revenge as Nottinghamshire lost by an innings and 188 runs at the Rose Bowl. Nottinghamshire eventually finished 2.5 points ahead of Hampshire in the final table.
Tables
Championship
2005 English cricket season/County Championship Division One Current Table
totesport League
2005 English cricket season/National League Division One Current Table
Match details
Nottinghamshire v Loughborough UCCE 13-15 April 2005 Nottinghamshire v Middlesex 17 April 2005 Middlesex v Nottinghamshire 20-23 April 2005 Nottinghamshire v Sussex 27-30 April 2005 Lancashire v Nottinghamshire 1 May 2005 Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan 2 May 2005 Wales Minor Counties v Nottinghamshire 4 May 2005 Nottinghamshire v Surrey 6-9 May 2005 Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire 15 May 2005 Sussex v Nottinghamshire 18 May 2005 Nottinghamshire v Kent 20-23 May 2005 Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire 25-28 May 2005 Nottinghamshire v Essex 30 May 2005 Nottinghamshire v Hampshire 1-4 June 2005 Glamorgan v Nottinghamshire 5 June 2005 Nottinghamshire v Lancashire 12 June 2005 Sussex v Nottinghamshire 15-18 June 2005 Middlesex v Nottinghamshire 19 June 2005 Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire 22 June 2005 Nottinghamshire v Lancashire 24 June 2005 Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire 26 June 2005 Durham v Nottinghamshire 28 June 2005 Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire 30 June 2005 Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire 1 July 2005 Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire 3 July 2005 Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire 6 July 2005 Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan 8-11 July 2005 Nottinghamshire v Hampshire 17 July 2005 Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire 20-23 July 2005 Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire 24 July 2005 Nottinghamshire v Surrey 26-29 July 2005 Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire 9 August 2005 Nottinghamshire v Middlesex 10-13 August 2005 Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire 14-17 August 2005 Essex v Nottinghamshire 22 August 2005 Northamptonshire v Nottinghamshire 28 August 2005 Glamorgan v Nottinghamshire 30 August-2 September 2005 Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire 5-8 September 2005 Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire 9 September 2005 Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire 11 September 2005 Kent v Nottinghamshire 14-17 September 2005 Hampshire v Nottinghamshire 21-24 September 2005