Kent make changes for Leicestershire trip

Kent return to four-day action on Monday with a trip to Grace Road to take on bottom side Leicestershire in the LV= County Championship.

Rob Key’s side currently sit sixth in Division Two but will be buoyed from their previous Championship outing, where they demolished Derbyshire by ten-wickets at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence. A fine all-round team effort was the catalyst for the win with a maiden LV= CC century for Daniel Bell-Drummond setting the tone, before bowlers Adam Riley and Darren Stevens shared 16 wickets in the match to seal the fine victory.

Head Coach Jimmy Adams is clearly looking for more of the same in the East Midlands: "We played very well against Derbyshire and came away with a justified win. I hope that we will continue that with another good display up in Leicestershire. Doug Bollinger is still suffering with a sore shoulder so Charlie Hartley comes into the squad while Sam Northeast and Mitch Claydon also return."

Bottom of the table Leicestershire are still searching for their first victory of the campaign. The Foxes, however, did test Kent when the two sides met at Canterbury earlier this season. The visitors posted 333, batting first, with Matthew Boyce and Anthony Ireland posting half-centuries. Kent’s reply was underpinned by Bell-Drummond’s fifty as they made an attacking declaration at 269 for seven. Rain interruptions frustrated throughout the game and after Josh Cobb declared Leicestershire’s second innings on 259 for five, the home side had to bat out the final session to secure the draw. Despite a wobble when they slipped to 36 for four, Kent were steered to safety by an unbroken stand of 53 between Bell-Drummond and Darren Stevens as the points were shared.

In the past31 years, Kent have played Leicestershire at Grace Road on 18 occasions with four wins, six defeats and nine draws. You can read more on the battles between the two counties courtesy of this match history guide, compiled by Martin Moseling.

Sam Northeast, Mitch Claydon, Charlie Hartley and young left-arm spin bowler Imran Qayyum come into the 12-man squad with Fabian Cowdrey, Doug Bollinger and Rob Joseph the players to miss out.

Bollinger is still suffering with a shoulder injury but his situation is steadily improving. There's also good news on David Griffiths, with his hamstring injury better than first feared. The former Hampshire fast-bowler is expected to be out for a further four to six weeks.

Play is due to begin at Grace Road, Leicestershire on Monday 7^thJuly 2014 at 11am.

Kent (from): Rob Key (c), Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sam Northeast, Brendan Nash, Ben Harmison, Darren Stevens, Sam Billings (w), Adam Ball, Mitch Claydon, Adam Riley, Charlie Hartley, Imran Qayyum.