Kent to host World Cup warm-up match

KENT County Cricket Club is pleased to announce that it will be staging the Twenty20 World Cup warm-up match between Bangladesh and Holland on Thursday, 28 May.

The day itself, 28 May, will see the very first visit of Holland to Kent“s St Lawrence Ground. Their squad includes bowler Dirk Nannes (who played for Middlesex last season) and Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate.

The full Dutch squad is as follows: Jeroen Smits (captain & wicketkeeper), Peter Borren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Tom De Grooth, Maurits Jonkman, Alexei Kervezee, Dirk Nannes, Ruud Nijman, Darren Reekers, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Mudassar Buhkari, Eric Szwarczynski, Dan van Bunge and Bas Zuiderent.

Coincidentally, the last time Bangladesh appeared here at Canterbury was also in an Ashes year – 2005 – when they put up a brave fight before narrowly losing to Ricky Ponting“s Australian side in the last One Day international staged at Canterbury.

Skippered by Mohammad Ashraful, the 15-man Bangladesh squad is: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Shamsur Rahman and Mithun Ali.

Kent“s Operations Director Jon Fordham said: ‘We are delighted to host this fixture and play a part in the much anticipated Twenty20 World Cup. We enjoy hosting international fixtures here at Canterbury and hope that we will be considered for future matches by making this event a real success.“

Admission is £10 for adults and £5 for juniors with members admitted free.

Gates will open at one o“clock with the game itself getting underway at three.

Picture of Essex and Holland all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate in action against Kent at last year’s Twenty20 Finals Day.