Josh Tongue is hoping to give his local support plenty to cheer as he prepares for his first T20 fixture at Trent Bridge tomorrow.

After his first summer with Notts was marred by injury, and with international call-ups following soon after, the paceman has still not made his debut for the Outlaws in the county game’s shortest format.

But, having made his IT20 bow at the weekend, the prospect of home comforts is appealing.

“The Notts crowd is unbelievable,” he said.

“I actually haven’t played a T20 here for Notts yet, but knowing the pitch fairly well, having been here for the last few years, can hopefully help me pass some knowledge on to my teammates.

“I’ve always wanted to play T20 cricket for England, so my focus now is these next three games.

“The ODIs are fast approaching as well [for which Tongue has been named in the squad], so hopefully I can tick off a debut in that later in the summer too.”

Although Tongue’s 20-over debut in West Bridgford awaits, the 28-year-old has taken four wickets at the ground across two appearances for Manchester Originals in The Hundred.

And he feels his performances in the format, in which he was the leading wicket-taker last summer, have given him a boost as a white-ball bowler.

“The Hundred gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.

“I played a few T20s for Worcestershire, so I had a bit of experience from that, but that side of T20 was nice to be part of.

“On a personal note, I was happy with my bowling last year. I’m an impact bowler in every format, and I just try not to be too predictable and bowl quickly, hitting the pitch hard and hitting the top of the stumps as much as I can.”

Tongue’s IT20 debut coincided with a maiden appearance in the format for 15-year- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

It was Tongue who bowled the first over at the India sensation, but he was determined to ignore the hype and block out the noise.

“I watched him during the IPL and he’s an amazing player and an exciting talent,” he said.

“I was just trying to focus on what I usually do and execute as best I can.

“Obviously he hit that one six off me, which was a nice shot! But I tried to focus as much as I could on myself.”