Match Preview: Kent Spitfires vs. Middlesex
Kent Spitfires welcome Middlesex to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence for their second match of the 2021 Vitality Blast.
The hosts will be buoyed by a 38-run victory over Hampshire Hawks in their first match of this year’s Blast, with Fred Klaassen taking 4/32 and three Kent batters scoring over 40 runs a-piece.
Kent’s Members and season ticket holders have secured entry via the Club’s Match Ticket Ballot.
Any remaining tickets, and tickets that our Members have returned to us after they can no longer attend, will be put on general sale until 15:00 on Friday 11 June.
Click here to check for Kent Spitfires vs. Middlesex ticket availability >>>
We urge any Members that have booked Vitality Blast tickets and do not intend to use them to contact the Club as soon as possible, so that they may be made available to their fellow supporters.
Tickets will not be available on the gate.
Last time out
Kent Spitfires beat Hampshire Hawks by 38 runs in their Vitality Blast match at Canterbury.
The Spitfires posted 176 for six, before restricting the Hawks to 138 for nine with a miserly display in the field. Fred Klaassen took four for 32 and Darren Stevens two for 22, claiming his 100th Blast wicket with his very first ball.
Ollie Robinson anchored Kent’s innings with 48, after Joe Denly smashed 44 and Daniel Bell-Drummond 42 to get the hosts off to a blistering start, but they were hauled back as The Hawks’ Mason Crane took three for 23, while Chris Wood two for 42 and Lewis McManus claimed two stumpings.
James Vince made 34, but the Hawks fell way behind the run rate, despite a battling 37 from Joe Weatherley.
Opposition Report
Middlesex get underway in the Vitality Blast tonight against Surrey in what has been called a ‘London Derby’.
The visitors are led by England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan, who is available to represent the club for the opening five matches of the Blast campaign, before joining up with England for their forthcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
Middlesex have some big hitters in their side, including the likes of Stevie Eskinazi, the competitions second highest run-scorer last season included, with Max Holden and Nick Gubbins joining him, Stirling and Morgan at the top of the order
The bowling ranks sees an emphasis on spin, with frontline options available from Green, Nathan Sowter and Luke Hollman, with plenty of extra spin overs available from Holden and Gubbins, whilst youngsters Ethan Bamber and Blake Cullen are named alongside last year’s Blast skipper Steven Finn in carrying the pace attack.
Tom Helm (isolating) James Harris (side-strain), Toby Roland-Jones (knee), Tim Murtagh, (elbow), and Max Harris (ankle) are all unavailable for the visitors.
Return of spectators
It’s our top priority to welcome you back to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, and to do that safely, we all have a role to play.
Because COVID-19 remains a part of our lives for the time-being – everyone – including the players, officials, staff, stewards and Members – will need to adhere to COVID-protocols to make the return of spectators a successful, and hopefully a permanent one.
All the information you need to adhere to the Club’s COVID-protocols upon your return to watching the Kent Spitfires live can be found in the below Match Day Information Pack:
Following the announcement that surge testing for COVID-19 has been implemented in Canterbury, the Club has been advised the introduction of the new enhancing testing programme is a precautionary measure.
Whilst the numbers of infection are relatively small, they are enough to cause some concern, and the enhanced testing programme is designed to help health officials get better idea of what’s happening in the community with regards to transmission.
Public Health officials at Kent County Council are urging anyone living, working or studying in all CT1 postcodes and the CT2 7 postcode to take a PCR Test at one of the five new test sites.
The units will be located at the city’s three City Council-owned Park and Ride services, in New Dover Road, Wincheap and Sturry Road; and at Darwin College car park and Keynes College car park at the University of Kent.
Live Streaming
Kent Spitfires vs. Middlesex will be streamed via Kent Cricket’s Official YouTube channel, and embedded into the Match Centre on the Kent Cricket website.
Our YouTube stream of the match against Hampshire Hawks last night was one of three first-class counties affected by an unidentified issue, rendering the YouTube stream unavailable citing “copyright issues with England and Wales cricket borad”.
The Club’s broadcast and commentary equipment were unaffected and we switched immediately to our official Facebook page to continue the Live Stream.
We’re pleased to report that the issues that impacted last night’s Live Stream have now been resolved.
ECB executives have been working hard to identify the cause of the issue, an anti-piracy agent located overseas, that has since retracted all takedowns.
Team News
We’ve named an unchanged 15-strong squad that includes recent signing James Logan.
Qais Ahmad is expected to arrive into the UK ahead of Kent Spitfires’ clash with Gloucestershire on Sunday after completing a mandatory quarantining period.
Tim Groenewald (knee) and Heino Kuhn (calf) remain unavailable for this match.
Sam Billings and Zak Crawley are unavailable after having received call-ups for England’s Men’s Test squad to face New Zealand. Daniel Bell-Drummond will captain the side.
Kent’s full Matchday Squad, presented by Shepherd Neame >>>
Be in with a chance of winning Darren Stevens’ signed match-worn Vitality Blast shirt by buying any piece of Samurai Sportswear Kent Cricket merchandise online or in-store before 18 July.
Purchase your Samurai Sportswear Kent Cricket merchandise here >>>
Match Previews of Kent’s LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures are proudly sponsored by Shepherd Neame >>>
