Kent name squads for NatWest T20 Blast and LV= County Championship home fixtures
Friday 6th June 2014
Kent Cricket has released both squads that will be competing in back to back fixtures over the weekend, and into next week. In keeping with the season so far, Head Coach Jimmy Adams has maintained his consistent approach.
The Kent Spitfires are looking to bounce back quickly from last night’s 22 run loss to South Group leaders, Hampshire, at the Ageas Bowl, in the NatWest T20 Blast. They face the bottom team in the table the Middlesex Panthers on Friday night at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury. Adams noted that, “it was not quite the performance we were looking for although Keysy’s knock was pretty smart. We will be keen to get back on to the winning path as soon as we can.” Adams has named the same 13 players in his squad that went to Southampton, where he opted for the twin spin attack of James Tredwell and Adam Riley.
The Spitfires and Panthers have played each other 21 times in T20 matches with the Londoners having the slight edge with 11 wins to Kent’s nine and one no result. One of those matches was the 2008 T20 Final – a match won by Middlesex in the final over.
Middlesex won both the home and away fixtures last year with the Canterbury match decided on Duckworth Lewis in their favour. This despite Vernon Philander’s first up efforts of four wickets for eight runs in three overs. The Uxbridge return fixture ended with the hosts recording a comfortable nine wicket win, chasing down Kent’s 140 (top score Alex Blake’s 37 NO), in 15.4 overs.
The LV = County Championship match, starting at noon on Saturday 7th June, will usher in a new era in Kent and Essex matches. This will be the inaugural fixture for the Mike Denness Challenge Shield. The winners of the match will receive two points towards the season’s tally, one point being allocated for limited over victories.
The first day of the four day match is starting one hour later than usual in recognition of the Spitfires’ late finish on Friday night. The other three days return to the normal 11am time slot with the lost hour from the first day compensated for in the finishing times on appropriate days.
Adams has stayed true to form for the season so far, returning to his preferred Championship lineup. Out goes Alex Blake, Fabian Cowdrey and James Tredwell, in comes Brendan Nash and Ben Harmison, with a 12 man squad announced. ‘The guys who have been working for us in the longer form of the game are the ones who are being named,’ stated Adams.
The history of Kent and Essex Championship matches dates back to 1898 and the first encounter in Tonbridge. Since then the two Counties have faced each other 182 times, at 11 different grounds in the County. The results so far has Kent with 65 victories and Essex 48. For more details of the playing history, click here.
The squad to face the Middlesex Panthers in the NatWest T20 Blast fixture, 7.00pm, Friday 6 June at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence is:
· Rob Key (c)
· Adam Ball
· Daniel Bell-Drummond
· Sam Billings (w)
· Alex Blake
· Doug Bollinger
· Mitch Claydon
· Fabian Cowdrey
· David Griffiths
· Sam Northeast
· Adam Riley
· Darren Stevens
· James Tredwell
The squad to play Essex in the LV= County Championship fixture, Saturday 7 June (match start 12 noon day 1, 11am on days 2 – 4) – Tuesday 10 June at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence is:
· Rob Key (c)
· Adam Ball
· Daniel Bell-Drummond
· Sam Billings (w)
· Doug Bollinger
· Mitch Claydon
· David Griffiths
· Ben Harmison
· Brendan Nash
· Sam Northeast
· Adam Riley
· Darren Stevens
Injury Update:
Mark Davies, Calum Haggett and Ivan Thomas unavailable due to injuries