Farbrace happy as Nottingham trip is deemed a success

Kent team director Paul Farbrace (pictured) says the decision to relocate their pre-season friendly to Nottingham proved a profitable decision.

A spell of fine weather in the east midlands allowed the players to train and gain some valuable time in the middle as they continue their preparations for the new season.

"The opportunity to come to Trent Bridge was a simple one because we wouldn“t have got any play at Canterbury. Fortunately they seemed to avoid most of the heavy weather here," said Farbrace.

"We“ve had some unbelievable weather this week and have been badly affected in Kent. It“s nobody“s fault that we couldn“t get our game on at St Lawrence. The ground staff worked really hard but the weather was unrelenting.

"Coming here has proved the right decision. We trained outdoor, on grass nets, on Wednesday from 12.30, when we got here. In freezing conditions, we were able to work for just short of four hours. It was a really good session."

Nottinghamshire and Kent then got 96 overs under their belts on Thursday. Batting first, for 60 overs, Kent scored 254-4 with Rob Key straight back amongst the runs. He scored an unbeaten 64 and received good support from the likes of Darren Stevens (48), Joe Denly (46), James Hockley (34*) and Martin van Jaarsveld 25.

In reply, Notts scored 246-6, from 53 overs. Phil Edwards, Amjad Khan and Matt Coles also bowled well while it was pleasing to see Adam Ball get his first wicket. He trapped Ali Brown leg before wicket.

Heavy rain washed out the last day at about 2 30pm but it was an excellent three days and the trip proved very positive.

Kent are next in action on Saturday when they play Loughborough UCCE. Admission is free so please go along and show your support.