Gidman loan extended as Kent name unchanged squad v Sussex

Tuesday 30th August 2016

Men’s First Team

County Championship Div 2

Gidman loan extended as Kent name unchanged squad v Sussex

All-rounder Will Gidman has extended his loan spell from Nottinghamshire until the end of the season as Kent name an unchanged squad for the Specsavers County Championship match at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.

The 31-year-old impressed on an initial eight-game stint and scored unbeaten half-centuries in his two Championship innings for Kent to date.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings is hoping a long-awaited promotion up the order could pay dividends.

The 25-year-old Kent Cricket Academy graduate said: “It was only my third innings in red-ball cricket all season so it was nice to spend some time in the middle.

“I try to strip batting back to basics as it’s a fine line between keeping the intent to score and not going too much into your own shell.

“It’s taken hard work over the last few weeks but it’s nice to see it paying off and hopefully it’s just the start.

“I’ve been asking for a while to bat at five. I think it’s the best place for me and I think I’m a proper batsman and am capable of scoring double hundreds."

Kent squad: 17 Sam Northeast (c), 23 Daniel Bell-Drummond, 58 Sean Dickson, 6 Joe Denly, 7 Sam Billings, 3 Darren Stevens, 42 Will Gidman, 15 James Tredwell, 26 Matt Coles, 77 Hardus Viljoen, 8 Mitch Claydon, 11 Imran Qayyum.

Sussex v Kent stats:

o Kent have gone four matches against Sussex without tasting defeat (W1 D3).
o Sussex are eight games unbeaten at home to Kent however (W4 D4).
o Sussex are yet to lose this summer (W3 D9) whilst Kent head into this encounter on the back of successive victories.
o Kent’s Matt Coles is seven scalps away from 300 in first-class cricket and four runs from 2,000 in his first-class career.