Kent squad to face Leicestershire in first home LV= match

Friday 1st May 2015

Men’s First Team

Kent welcome Leicestershire for the first LV= County Championship home game of the season at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Sunday.

The Bank Holiday fixture will be a Kids for a Quid Fixture with under 16s tickets £1 online or on the gate for all four days.

Kent will be looking for their first victory of the season after tricky tests at pacesetters Essex and Lancashire.

Head coach Jimmy Adams has named an unchanged squad and is confident the players can put together performances in their opening home match.

Adams said: "It's been a tough start and we aim to improve our consistency as we look for a first home win of the season."

Former Kent wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien misses out on a return to Canterbury as Ireland players must report for international duty on Wednesday, a day before the England squad including Sam Billings must gather.

Another ex-Kent player, seamer Charlie Shreck features but left-armer Atif Sheikh is sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Kent squad: 4 Robert Key (c), 6 Joe Denly,23 Daniel Bell-Drummond,40 Brendan Nash, 17 Sam Northeast, 3 Darren Stevens, 20 Sam Billings (w), 26 Matt Coles, 8 Mitch Claydon, 33 Adam Riley, 14 Matt Hunn, 5 Ivan Thomas, 22 Charlie Hartley.

Leicestershire squad: 8 Angus Robson, 6 Dan Redfern, 33 Ned Eckersley, 55 Mark Cosgrove, 9 Neil Pinner, 11 Matthew Boyce, 23 Lewis Hill, 10 Rob Taylor, 19 Tom Wells, 44 Ben Raine, 22 Jigar Naik, 27 Clint McKay, 24 Ollie Freckingham, 4 Charlie Shreck.

Click here to order tickets with Kids for a Quid

MATCH STATS

· Kent are unbeaten in their last 10 against Leicestershire (won four, drawn six).

· Kent’s average first innings total in these 10 games is 361.

· Angus Robson has reached 50 on 12 occasions since the start of last season, the joint-most with James Taylor and Adam Lyth.

· Sam Northeast has scored 869 runs in his last 15 Championship innings, at an average of 62.1.

POTENTIAL MATCH MILESTONES

· Mitch Claydon needs two more wickets to reach 200 first-class wickets.