In other circumstances, Darren Pattinson would be trying to win the County Championship with Hampshire today instead of leading the Nottinghamshire attack at Trent Bridge. He decided to follow the advice of David Hussey, rather than persuasion from Shane Warne, and will thank the less eminent Victoria player if his unpredictable season ends in glory.

Playing for England ought to be a joy rather than a trauma, but Pattinson, 30, was hit so badly by the experience of his infamous debut against South Africa at Headingley Carnegie in the second npower Test in July that Nottinghamshire have kept him away from interviews. “We think it is better that he just keeps quiet,” Mick Newell, the club's cricket manager, said.

Warne was among the few to praise Pattinson, who was born in Grimsby but raised in Australia, on his selection to replace Ryan Sidebottom for a match that England lost heavily. Others sneered, but Warne saw in Pattinson a big-hearted swing bowler, a late developer with the pace and skill to trouble batsmen. That is why he tried to push him towards Hampshire.

Nottinghamshire, however, had given Pattinson an opportunity in 2007 on the recommendation of Hussey, their overseas player. His contribution was brief - 13 balls for the second team before turning an ankle in an innings defeat by Derbyshire - but a two-year deal was forthcoming this spring.

Asked to explain the reason behind Nottinghamshire's continuing rise after promotion last season, Newell said: “Undoubtedly our seam bowling.” The new-ball attack of Pattinson, a former roofer, and Charlie Shreck, who played for Cornwall until the age of 25, is the most successful in the division, with 98 wickets between them.

Shreck has bowled more championship overs (523.5) than any seam bowler in the country this summer, while Pattinson is new to the six-month slog and is tiring. The security of a final win may be required, given forecasts for only occasional showers across England, giving their rivals every opportunity to close the gap.

Newell said: “We have had to manage Darren through the season because this is something different for him, and then after the England experience, which he did not really enjoy - not so much being in the dressing-room, but the aftermath. The fact that criticism of his selection went on for so long took him by surprise.”

Perhaps the biggest tribute to Shreck and Pattinson, who expects to return next year after a winter with Victoria as an overseas player, is that Nottinghamshire sit eight points clear, despite the England pair of Sidebottom and Stuart Broad featuring in only two and three matches respectively. None of them resulted in a win.

Perhaps, given the disruptions by rain, the best team may not emerge as champions. There is no outstanding county, but Newell and Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset batsman, believe that the top three are the pick of the bunch. Durham, the unluckiest, complete the trio. Both they and Somerset are chasing a first title, but Dale Benkenstein, the Durham captain, sounded resigned as he assessed the prospects of his team, who face Kent at Canterbury.

“We have probably left it a little bit late now and maybe, with the weather, that is not all our own fault,” he said. “Kent are struggling a little bit, so it will be interesting to see what sort of pitch they prepare. They may want it to do something on the first day to guarantee a result one way or the other and they have some good seam bowlers to exploit that. But that applies to us as well, so it may play into our hands.”

Trescothick has bemoaned the flatness of the Taunton surface on which Somerset are aiming to beat Lancashire to chart territory unmapped by the generation of Ian Botham, Viv Richards and Joel Garner in the 1970s and 1980s. “We have talked about that era and want to be alongside it,” Trescothick said. “You only really get remembered if you win trophies.”

Title contenders

Nottinghamshire (max 200pts)

A win for Nottinghamshire without bonus points would ensure the title; Somerset can also reach 192 points but have fewer wins. A draw for Nottinghamshire, even with the maximum eight bonus points, may not be enough.

Somerset (max 192)

Somerset will probably need a win and a good hand of bonus points to overtake Nottinghamshire, assuming they fail to win, and to stay ahead of Durham. Somerset have two wins fewer so need to finish clear of both on points.

Durham (max 190)

A draw is also unlikely to be enough for Durham and even a win would leave them relying on results elsewhere. If Durham did finish level with Nottinghamshire or Somerset, they would win the title by virtue of more victories.

Hampshire (max 182)

They would need to win, probably with maximum bonus points, restrict Nottinghamshire to three bonus points and then rely on Somerset and Durham failing to pick up sufficient points.

Relegation rivals

Surrey are down, but any one of the other four counties could join them. Only five points cover Lancashire, Kent, Sussex and Yorkshire, the last two squaring up at Hove, so every point will be crucial. The extra wins achieved by Lancashire and Kent would favour them if teams finish level; the next tie-breaker is fewer losses, which favours Lancashire and Sussex, and after that points gained in head-to-head matches.