Notts need to 'hold nerve' to clinch title - Moores

Peter Moores has previously guided Sussex and Lancashire to the County Championship title

Nottinghamshire need to "hold their nerve" just once more to clinch the County Championship title for the first time in 15 years, says head coach Peter Moores.

Victory at Trent Bridge against Warwickshire in the final round of matches, which start on Wednesday, would seal them the trophy ahead of second-placed Surrey.

It was their remarkable 20-run win against the three-time defending champions last week that put them on the brink of recapturing English cricket's most coveted crown.

Moores says the triumph at The Oval, which followed a similarly dramatic final-day win at Worcestershire, did more than just take Notts to the top of the table – it galvanised his side mentally ahead of the deciding final four days of the campaign.

"That was key, holding our nerve," Moores told BBC East Midlands Today.

"To win anything, you need pressure. And the key to delivering under pressure is handling it – and that's the goal for everyone.

"In the past two games, against Worcestershire and Surrey, it has felt like our season has been hanging by a thread on the last day. And both times that lads have found what's needed to get over the line to get a win.

"We are going to have to do it one more time, which is exciting and we look forward to it."

Earlier in the season, Moores said it took a "marathon" mindset to turn Notts into title contenders after narrowly avoiding relegation last season.

If Notts go on to win their first title since 2010, it will be the seventh time in 125 seasons of County Championship cricket that they have done so.

For Moores, it would be a monumental achievement as he would be the first head coach to lead three different clubs to the title – having already done so with Sussex in 2003 and Lancashire in 2011.

The former England head coach, who guided Nottinghamshire to promotion as Division Two champions in 2022, said any history he makes "would be a fantastic feeling".

But it is far as he would go, deflecting praise to those that surround him and the players that have delivered six wins and suffered only one defeat in the four-day game this season.

"What I do know about winning the Championship, as I've done before at other clubs, is that it is a collective effort," Moores said.

"It's borne out of lots of different things. You have to look at what goes on in your youth set-up, you look at how things are structured, you have looked at the team and build it.

"And we have been through a big journey."