Maxwell Aims to Go Out with a Bang at Trent Bridge

Maxwell believes a close Championship victory over Essex last week will give the Royals confidence

Full squad and match preview ahead of the Hampshire Royals' Friends Life t20 Quarter-Final against the Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Trent Bridge

Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Hampshire Royals
Friends Life t20 Quarter Final
Wednesday 25 July (7:10pm start)
Trent Bridge

The Hampshire Royals play the biggest match of their season so far on Wednesday night when they travel to Trent Bridge to take on North Group runners-up the Nottinghamshire Outlaws in the Friends Life t20 Quarter Final.

The Royals won’t need any additional motivation as they know a potential third Finals Day in a row awaits should they come out on top. However, they’ll have to reverse a recent trend if they’re to triumph as the Royals have been beaten by the Outlaws in the teams’ last two limited-overs matches.

That was in the longer format of the Clydesdale Bank 40 and, with Hampshire the form Twenty20 team in recent years, they’ll be confident of over-turning that run.

Especially as overseas star, Glenn Maxwell as vowed to go out with a bang! His heroics for the county earned him an International call-up which, though great for him, means this will be his final game for the Royals.

And if the team go through to Finals Day, he admitted it would be hard to watch from a distance; “As soon as I have to watch cricket I just find it so frustrating to not be there playing or being involved. Especially if someone makes a mistake, I’ll be throwing the TV remote! But I’m sure [if we get there] the boys will be fine without me and I’m looking forward to watching Finals Day.”

And, although he wasn’t involved, Maxwell also believes that a dramatic two-run LV= County Championship victory over Essex (read report) last week bodes well for the team’s confidence going into this match; “That’s an unbelievable win in any sort of game – two runs – but especially in a four-day game, going down to the wire. It’s such a team-lifting thing. Hopefully that’s good momentum for us going into this Twenty20.

“Most of their batters haven’t got much of a hit this tournament because their top three or four have been so good. So I think, if we can take some early wickets and ruffle some feathers, we’ll have a real shot at getting under their skin.”

To hear an extended interview with Maxwell please click on the audio file below:

If you can not see this interview, listen to it here http://chirb.it/9BOrCa

Despite many members of the England squad having been allowed to turn out for their county’s FLt20 quarter-finals, Nottinghamshire will not have Stuart Broad or Graham Swann in their XI.

Therefore, much will rest on the shoulders of spinner Samit Patel as well as leading wicket-takers, Steven Mullaney and Andy Carter (both seamers have eight scalps) – especially given that Darren Pattinson is a doubt with a groin strain.

With the bat, former Royal Michael Lumb is the Outlaws’ leading run-scorer with 213 runs. He has recovered from an injury that saw him miss out on the two team’s CB40 meeting last week.

Royals Squad:

(3) Simon Katich	(19) Danny Briggs
(4) Jimmy Adams	(25) Chris Wood
(7) Sean Ervine	(32) Glenn Maxwell
(8) Liam Dawson	(33) Kabir Ali
(14) James Vince	(44) Neil McKenzie
(16) Michael Bates†	(46) Bilal Shafayat
(17) Dimitri Mascarenhas*

Coverage:

Live Text Cricket Updates	Get updates sent to your phone by texting "Follow @HantsCricket" to 86444 (see link for more details)
Online Ball-by-Ball Commentary	BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
Online and on Radio Ball-by-Ball Commentary	BBC Radio Solent (Tune-In Radio Live Event No. 16)
Online and on Radio Ball-by-Ball Commentary	BBC Radio Nottingham
Live TV Coverage	Sky Sports 1