Kent Spitfires unchanged for televised trip to Sussex Sharks

THE Kent Spitfires will aim to move a step closer to the knock out stages of the Twenty20 Cup by completing the double over their opponents, Sussex Sharks, tomorrow night. The Spitfires take on the group leaders, under the lights at Hove, knowing a win will put them top of the table.

Despite Kent currently sitting proud in second spot, their Professional Cricket Manager, Simon Willis, says plenty of hard work is still needed in order to qualify: ‘There is still a lot of cricket to play. Ourselves and Essex are going well in the group so far but the South Division is tough and, at this stage, five of the six teams will still fancy their chances of going through.“

Kent beat the Sussex Sharks by five wickets at Canterbury, last Sunday, and Willis is sure that they will be up for revenge: ‘Sussex are a good side. They showed that with their win over Essex at Chelmsford. They always show lots of energy in the field and they scrap hard. They have a good mixture of youth and experience and will be a tough team to beat but if we play to our potential, and execute our skills, then we stand a great chance of completing the double over them.“

The Spitfires have only suffered one defeat, from their five matches to date in the T20, and Willis has been impressed with some of the cricket played: ‘Apart from the last game, away at Essex, we have played pretty well. We put on good performances against Middlesex, both home and away, and in the reverse fixture against the Sharks. In those three matches we came pretty close to playing some perfect cricket. We knew that we were a bit light in the FPT so we worked hard to rectify that and are going pretty well in the Twenty20. We just need to keep it going.“

Kent will once again be without skipper Rob Key, who is on international duty with England. The unchanged 12-man squad is as follows: van Jaarsveld (C), Denly, Hockley, Jones (W), Stevens, Kemp, Tredwell, Mahmood, McLaren, Cook, Joseph, Northeast

Mark Pennell is going to Hove tomorrow, for the official website www.kentccc.com, and will keep members and supporters fully up-to-date with Kent“s progress.

The game is also live on Sky Sports.

Picture of Ryan McLaren, taking a wonderful catch against Essex on Monday night, courtesy of Getty Images.