Blakey’s Blog

Some exciting news! We’re off to Dubai! I’m sure most of you will be aware now that we fly out today for a week’s training in sunnier climates. I personally cannot wait, and this will provide the squad with a great opportunity to hone their skills in the run up to the season. Although there’s always that thought in the back of my mind that I have a dissertation hand in in two weeks time, which seems to put a slight dampener on proceeds. I will have to find some quiet time in the evenings to get on with it, preferably away from my ‘brainy’ roommate Matt Coles!

So pre-season is finally under way and we started with the fitness testing on Friday. The results were excellent by all accounts, which is testament to Strength and Conditioning coach Pete Kelly (aka The Body). The machine that is Simon Cook bossed the whole affair as usual, coming out top in the majority of the testing protocols. Big hand to Sam Billings though who annihilated the dreaded yoyo test with a score of 15.1; seems Loughborough must be good for something at least.

Monday and Tuesday has seen the start of cricket matters as we netted indoors both days. Mixed in with some fitness work and a spot of football it’s been a good start to the programme. It’s also great to see a Kent favourite Mark Ealham back at the club in a part time coaching role, and will be good to tap into his vast knowledge on the game.

This week saw the introduction of poster shoot day. Photographs were taken of different squad members in various kits and poses, and there were plenty of Spitfire bottles flying about in cooperation with our sponsor. We carried out some video interviews for the website as well, and I can tell you that watching Colesy on his 14^th take was quite amusing. Keep an eye out for those videos on the website.

We now obviously move outside in Dubai and it will be up to everyone to get as much as they can out of the trip before we return to outdoor nets at Canterbury. Catch you on our return, hopefully with a tan and all!