Newell backs off-colour Read

Chris Read juggles three responsibilities as skipper of the incumbent leaders

Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell leapt to the defence of captain Chris Read after a trio of drops hampered their LV County Championship bid at Trent Bridge.

Former England wicketkeeper Read floored three chances as Hampshire reached 376 for five, an advantage of 368 runs heading into the final day.

Those misses allowed Nic Pothas to hit an unbeaten hundred, Liam Dawson to close on 48 not out and Chris Benham to score 66.

Nottinghamshire, who began the final round of matches 10 points ahead of third-placed Durham, will now face an imposing run chase to salvage the crown, unless Kent can produce a miraculous fightback to stave off defeat to Durham at Canterbury.

“Possibly there was a lot going on in his mind,” Newell said of Read. “The catch stood back was disappointing.

“It is always more difficult when you’re stood up but I still believe he is the best keeper in England. Over the course of the season he has take some catches that very few other people would have taken.

“He has taken a lot on with the captaincy and his wicketkeeping but it hasn’t affected his wicketkeeping generally.

“Perhaps today it was a little bit of extra pressure on him because of us having to chase the game.”

Chris Benham was one beneficiary of Read's lapse, going on to score 66

Nottinghamshire’s general display in the field was lethargic, particularly after a first session robbed of its first 45 minutes because of fog.

“It is understandable after half a day of not a lot happening that the boys start to flag a little bit,” Newell added.

“They want to win the championship, obviously, but we could just see the game slipping away. Our fielding has been pretty ordinary and to be fair we have one or two pretty ordinary fielders.

“It was a lack of concentration and energy. If you don’t sense the game is winnable you tend to switch off and there were definite cases of fielders switching off in that last session.”

Nottinghamshire will have to keep half an eye on what is happening at Canterbury but will be compelled to chase whatever Hampshire set.

Hampshire no longer have Shane Warne to influence matches but Pakistani Imran Tahir’s 40 wickets in seven appearances suggests he will be a serious fourth-day threat.

Opener Michael Brown hit 93 in what could potentially be his final innings for Hampshire ahead of talks on his future.

He said: “Unfortunately we couldn’t get a big score in the first innings to keep us in with a shout of the championship.

"But we are in a very handy position now and we will look to bat on a bit tomorrow and then hopefully Imran can weave a bit of magic.

“We want to win the game, so I would imagine the plan would be to give ourselves 70 or 80 overs.

“Realistically we also owe it to Durham to make things tough. They have had a couple of games wiped out by the weather and have played as well as anyone.

“And Kent could yet do us a favour and we might want to win to come second.”