Claydon: We were mostly on top

Kent paceman Mitch Claydon says the side need to learn the lessons from an opening defeat to Guyana on the FGS Plant Tour.

The Australian-born seamer returned career-best one-day figures of 5/31 and felt Kent were on top for much of the contest in Antigua.

After dismissing the West Indies four-day champions for 233, a middle-order collapse after a strong start to the Kent reply cost the tourists dearly.

Claydon said: “The batting is something we have addressed as a group as we dominated 80 per cent of the game until that period in the middle overs where they had spin at both ends.

“With the ball, the pitch had good pace and carry and our seamers bowled well on it.

“Allan Donald has settled in well and is demanding high standards from the group with some really good training sessions.”

The squad had a rest day on Thursday but return to training on Friday in the build-up to Sunday’s match against Jamaica.

The 35-year-old said: “Guyana are a good side but we have potentially a bigger test on Sunday as Jamaica have a strong side.

“We’re looking forward to facing the likes of Andre Russell and Chris Gayle and finding out where we are as a group.

“It’s a beautiful place to play cricket but there’s not much time to be a tourist as we have four games over the next week or so.

“With the heat and busy schedule, we need to find the right balance of getting match practice without burning ourselves out before April.

“It’s what we’re paid to do so we’ll crack on and the lads are looking forward to it.

“I am one of the more experienced lads and I’ve tried to help the younger bowlers to keep learning and improving with each match.

“Getting overs under their belt and working with the likes of Allan Donald will only help their development.”

The side have acclimatised to conditions with temperatures pushing 30 degrees on the island – weather not dissimilar to Mitch’s birthplace.

“It’s been hot but at least we have the ocean to cool down after a day’s training or a match. Thankfully there’s no sharks so I’ve been out swimming as much as I can!

“It’s a good group of lads so we can get to know each other better off the field which should make us a tighter-knit squad going forward.

“We’ve seen a few Kent supporters around the hotel and at the match which is outstanding to come all this way to see us play. We hope we can repay them with a few wins in the games to come.”