Ben Slater is champing at the bit to return to home action as Nottinghamshire’s preparations for the 2026 campaign take another step forward this week.

Having returned from a pre-season tour to Pretoria on Saturday, Peter Moores’ side will play at Trent Bridge for the first time this year in a three-day friendly against Loughborough UCCE.

“It will be nice to get back in English conditions, with it only being a couple of weeks now until we get started properly,” said Slater.

“There’s a big couple of weeks coming up. We had some good prep in Pretoria, but we all know the wickets back here will be different to what we experienced out there.

“It will just be a case of batting with volume in mind, getting used to our conditions again, and getting time in the middle across the game.”

Head Coach Moores has named a 14-strong squad for the fixture, with 16-year-old Academy wicketkeeping prospect Toby Lambert and seamer James Hayes added to the 12 that took on Titans in Pretoria.

As a former alumnus of Leeds Beckett University, Slater has previous experience of being on the opposite side of the coin in these fixtures, and he knows the visitors will be keen to impress.

“It will be a good game!” said Slater. “I’ve heard that Loughborough are quite a strong side, and they have lads in their side who are at different counties, so they’ll be of a good standard.”

“I know, having played in these games before, you always want to do well against counties, and I was lucky enough to be in a university team that beat one county and took another close.

“They’ll definitely be trying to do the same thing, and we’ll not be taking them, or the game, lightly.

“We’ll approach it as we did in Pretoria, with a professional attitude and making sure we’re focused so that we get what we want out of the game.”

Slater believes the trip to South Africa, which concluded with the Green and Golds facing a Titans XI over two days, was a productive one, and served as an ideal period of preparation.

“I think the tour went well for everyone, really, not just for me,” he said. “It was disappointing that it rained at the start, but once the sun came out, we got some good stuff done.

“I felt like I was playing well in the sessions that we had against ourselves, and I also batted for a session with Seech [Sam Seecharan] in the game, so it was good to get that volume in.”

In particular, the 34-year-old found value in variety as he relished the challenge of facing new opponents, while also being keen to stress that his preparation will continue to evolve.

“Out there, it was nice to face someone other than our bowlers, and I think there’s a bit more importance placed on it when you’re facing other bowlers, rather than lads that you know,” explained Slater.

“It felt like it had probably got to a point where that’s what we needed, especially for me. It made me concentrate a bit more and put some more pressure on myself.

“But that said, England’s different to everywhere in the world in terms of the moving ball, and also with the pitches that we have here, so it’s a big couple of weeks.”