Essex to remember the good times

If England thought they had injury problems with their bowling line up, then they should cast a glance in the direction of Nottinghamshire whose season could be ruined by fitness problems. Nottinghamshire's bid for the Division Two Championship pennant has faded, their Twenty20 hopes were crushed and they are hardly setting the world alight in the Pro40. And all because they have lost Ryan Sidebottom to England and Mark Ealham, Mark Footitt, Charlie Shreck, Simon Francis and Paul Franks to injury. So when Nottinghamshire take on Essex in the Pro40 top flight in front of the Sky cameras on Wednesday at Trent Bridge, bear these woes in mind. Despite a win last time out in the competition against Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire's second string bowling has been dispatched to all parts of the ground. Worcestershire and Hampshire found runs easy to come by in handing out defeats in two of their last three. Desperate times have called for desperate measures and Nadeem Malik has signed on-loan from Worcestershire. Malik was not considered good enough to play for Notts three years ago hence his move to Worcester. Essex will hardly inspire punters with confidence given they have lost all three of their Pro40 fixtures this term. But surely the champions can not have forgotten how to win matches in this format? They still have the core group of players who made them so successful and at least they got close last time out against Warwickshire. A six-run loss shows they still have good plans and they should be capable of breaking their duck against Nottinghamshire. With the bat, a front four of Mark Pettini, Varun Chopra, Ravi Bopara and Grant Flower is good enough to take on any attack. Andy Bichel, the veteran Australian seamer, and Danish Kaneria, the wily Pakistan twirler, means Essex are blessed with the ball, too. Which is more than can be said for Nottinghamshire. Verdict: 1pt Essex 4/3 (Sporting Odds)