Luke Fletcher is a strapping 6ft 6ins fast bowler whose indefatigable spells can sustain Nottinghamshire in their most challenging times. He looks something of a throwback: a burly, old-fashioned county seamer liable to grumble his way eccentrically through his most frustrating spells.

Fletcher represented Nottinghamshire's second XI in 2007 and played alongside the club's then bowling coach, Phil DeFreitas, for Papplewick and Linby in the Nottinghamshire Premier League. He even briefly worked as a steward at Trent Bridge as he sought to make the grade. After joining the club on their pre-season tour to South Africa in 2008 he was handed a one-year contract, making his first-class debut against Oxford UCCE at The Parks.

He impressed in the 2009 season with 29 wickets at 27.58, enough to earn him a category C contract with the England performance squad. He revealed his potential as a batsman with 92 against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in his fourth Championship.

He enjoyed his most successful campaign in 2011, taking a total of 73 wickets across all forms of the game, including a career-best first-class return of 5 for 82 against Lancashire at Trent Bridge, after which his 2012 return of 24 wickets from only eight appearances in the Championship was somewhat disappointing, although he had some fitness issues and faced strong competition for his place.

Notts' coach Mick Newell used him as a Championship specialist in 2013 and it contributed to a solid return of 43 wickets at under 30, with only one match missed. He took career-best figures of 5 for 93 against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge, only the second five-wicket haul of his career.

He recognised a need to improve his fitness levels to be in contention in all competitions and addressed his previous white-ball shortcomings with gusto the following year, gaining a reputation as one of the most solid yorker bowlers in the land and confirming his position as a crowd favourite at Trent Bridge. The Bulwell Bomber was making his mark.

Growing competition among Notts' pace bowling ranks, though, limited his Championship opportunities over the next two seasons and led, in turn, to periods on loan at Surrey and Derbyshire. By the end of the 2015 summer, he pronounced himself "a bit fed up with cricket" and committed himself to shaping up mentally and physically for the challenge ahead.
ESPNcricinfo staff