Notts take pre-season title

Success on pre-season tours has been the precursor to good performances during the season for many counties in previous years, so Nottinghamshire can take heart from winning the Barbados T20 cup.

Six counties took up the opportunity of some warm-weather practise ahead of the new season and Notts thrashed Derbyshire in the final at Kensington Oval to add this trophy to the T20 competition won in Dubai prior to the 2011 season.

They were only chasing 115 after Derbyshire's top order failed with the bat. Early wickets left them 57 for 6 on a pitch that had been used for the Zimbabwe Test match earlier in the week. Tony Palladino and Richard Johnson rescued the innings into double figures.

But it was a paltry target as Michael Lumb and Alex Hales took 54 from the Powerplay - 18 from Mark Footitt's first over. Lumb holed out in the deep for 35 and Hales fell caught at midwicket for 33. James Taylor launched three sixes in his 32 before Steven Mullaney applied the coup de grace, hitting the winning runs into the pavilion.

Notts had overcome Yorkshire in the semi-final while Derbyshire had squeezed past Warwickshire by two runs. Hampshire beat Northamptonshire in the plate final.

But Notts can take most from the tour and Mick Newell, their director of cricket, said they had achieved a lot from the trip. "Sam Wood and Graeme White have had a couple of excellent days, in conditions suited to spin bowling," he told nottsccc.co.uk. "Steven Mullaney's chipped in with the bat but over the course of the two days everybody's contributed.

"We haven't given a lot of runs away in any of the three matches, the wickets have been conducive to spin but we have also batted nicely when up against quicker bowling.

"We have Samit Patel and David Hussey to come into our T20 side as well and we'll need lots of different players over the ten qualifying matches but certainly Sam Wood has shown what he can do here."