Evison: “We’ve got a lot of confidence”
The Royal London Cup Final at Trent Bridge will be a ‘home’ fixture for Kent Spitfires all-rounder Joey Evison, who is officially still a Nottinghamshire player, with his move to Kent not becoming permanent until the end of the season.
Evison was initially loaned to Kent for the group stages, but despite scoring a maiden List A ton at Glamorgan, the Spitfires lost in Cardiff and capitulated in their next two matches. Their dramatic revival meant his loan was extended and then extended again as his new county advanced through the knockout stages. The run to the Final also had a dramatic impact on morale.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” Evison said. “We’ve managed to win games from positions where the opposition was in the driving seat really and we’ve got quite a lot of experience in the team and they can keep us calm.”
More than one observer has pointed out that reaching the final has been a team effort, with multiple players making at least one match-turning contribution. For Evison the 109 he made at Glamorgan stands out, even if it was in a game Kent eventually lost.
“Obviously winning that quarter-final and semi-final were highlights, but getting my first List A hundred in a Kent shirt was probably the biggest highlight, because it was only my second game. I had a chance early doors but from there on everything was fairly smooth really, it was a nice wicket at a lovely ground. It was only my second time playing there and it was against good opposition as well, they didn’t lose many players to The Hundred so it was good to get some runs.”
He’s yet to make a decisive contribution with the ball, but is ready, willing and able to do so on a familiar wicket at Trent Bridge, if called.
“We had four or five seamers in the same team and it’s hard to get everyone to bowl ten overs,” he said. “But I’m a genuine all rounder and I’ll bowl whenever the captain needs me to. It’s a really exciting occasion for everyone involved, but it is for me in particular, to have the prospect of winning a cup final at your old ground.”
His use of the word “old” here perhaps hints at Evison’s mindset and Nottinghamshire’s elimination in the quarter-finals spared him from a potentially awkward final, when he would have had to sit on the sidelines, unsure which team-issue uniform to wear.
He seems to be adapting quickly to life down south.
“It’s been a really easy transition for me,” he said. “It always helps coming to a new club where you do know quite a few players and the people I didn’t know have been really welcoming, I’ve already been making some good mates here and to also play in a successful team like we have been in this competition has been pleasing.”
It helped that he already knew a number of his team mates, notably Jordan Cox, who he played with in the England Under-19 side.
“I haven’t seen a lot of Jordan because he’s been away with The Hundred, but since he’s been back we’ve played golf together,” he said. “Of course I also played for England with Hamid Qadri as well so he’s been really good when Jordan’s not been here but I’ve made a lot of new friends here and I was with Ben Compton at Notts for a couple of years as well so it’s nice to have him down here.”
By Fred Atkins
