Ford praises his promoted side on a job well done

Kent v Leicestershire LV County Championship Division 2, Day three. Canterbury.
By Mark Pennell
KENT secured an impressive first inning lead of 305 after reaching 453 against Leicestershire on the day they made certain of winning the LV County Championship Division 2 title.
Ryan McLaren (44) was last man out, caught behind off the workmanlike Andrew Harris just before 3pm as Kent secured a maximum batting bonus points to wrap up the title with a game in hand.
Harris finished with four for 84, the equally willing Wayne White three for 91 as Kent finally ran out of steam on day three of this momentous four-day clash.
It was 11.20am and Kent were into the 12th over of the third day“s play when van Jaarsveld turned one off his pads from Andrew Harris and called his sixth-wicket partner Justin Kemp through for a single that took Kent to 250 and van Jaarsveld on to 89.
Kent“s out-going director of cricket Graham Ford said: “We“ve not finished well in the past couple of seasons, so everyone was a little bit cautious about wrapping this up. Now there is a sense of relief, but also a real feeling of satisfaction at having done a job pretty well.
“With eight wins so far, our success has been pretty emphatic and I hope those supporters who have been around the ground here quite often will have appreciated our very positive style of play.
“The guys can be really proud of the fact that they“ve achieved this with a small squad and with only minimal contribution from an overseas pro. The injuries to Robbie Joseph and Ryan McLaren were big setbacks, but the lads have shown great character, put their hands up and worked even harder.”
Kent“s faithful had been left on the edge of their seats for 12 balls and eight minutes while waiting for the all important single after night watchman Amjad Khan was dismissed for 16 with the side only a run short of the milestone.
Khan, in going for glory, sliced an attempted cover drive high into the off-side where Josh Cobb took an excellent running catch to give Wayne White a well deserved wicket.
Soon after Kent had reached the landmark they lost Justin Kemp (8) leg-before to a shooter from White, but van Jaarsveld continued to reach his seventh hundred of the season from 122 balls and with 16 fours and a brace of sixes.
The right-hander reached 146 before going just before lunch, caught behind by Tom New off a nicked drive off the bowling of James Benning as Kent went in at lunch on 344 for seven – an overall lead in the match of 196.
The Foxes needed a further session to take Kent“s last three remaining scalps, Alex Blake (33) clipped back a return catch to give part-time leg-spinner Josh Cobb his first wicket of the campaign.
Fellow left-hander James Tredwell (29) edged to the keeper as did McLaren soon after leaving Leicestershire to reach 97 without loss in the 38-over final session.