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It's got to turn Notts' way

Mark Ealham is getting increasingly frustrated by the Nottinghamshire Outlaws Twenty20 campaign and he believes a change of fortune is imminent.

Mark Ealham is getting increasingly frustrated by Notts' Twenty20 campaign.

But he believes a change of fortune is imminent and four wins, starting with victory over holders Leicestershire at Trent Bridge today, will still see them into the quarter-finals.

Notts fell to a six-wicket defeat in the final over at Durham on Tuesday, despite Ealham hitting 45 - including 34 from one over.

And the all-rounder believes one victory from their four matches is scant reward for the way they have been playing.

He said: "At the moment, we seem to have a knack of losing matches when we could have easily had three wins out of four.

"We need a little bit of luck. We are playing pretty well, the batting is sorted out and we are putting up totals which have been competitive."

Ealham said sharper fielding could have earned victory at Durham, where the home side managed to score 20 from the last two overs.

"We didn't field particularly well and we lost seven or eight runs.

"That might not sound like a lot but there is a big difference between needing 12 off the last over and needing 20, so we need to brush up on that.

"But the way we are playing, something has got to turn our way.

"We have still got four games to go and I still think we can win all four. We have to do that to give ourselves a chance."

Notts finish their campaign with two games against Derbyshire, punctuated by a trip to Yorkshire.

But Ealham believes their limited overs form will improve on the back of their Twenty20 form.

They are bottom of the totesport League Division One, having managed a solitary win.

Ealham said: "We had a really comprehensive win over Lancashire in the totesport and then we were poor in the next game.

"The problem is we are not winning tight games, despite playing good cricket. But we are very confident that we can turn it around again.

"I have been playing for a long time and there have been times when you go through these sorts of periods when it seems like a case of 'here we go again'."

"But we have meetings afterwards and go into a lot of analysis. There are plans for each batsmen and it is a case of getting the ball into the right areas.

"The championship form keeps you going but it is a lot more focused because of the relegation issue.

"That wasn't there before and these performances will give us confidence to avoid relegation."

He said new captain Stephen Fleming has had a great influence in the dressing room and triggered the improvement in performances.

"The skipper is a great thinker," he said. "If we have lost he won't just come off the pitch and forget about it. He is always looking for things to improve and the preparations for the Twenty20 have been excellent.

"And there is still time for us to improve and have some better luck."

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