Match Preview: Kent vs. Sussex
After a year’s hiatus, Canterbury Cricket Week returns for 2021 with the visit of Sussex to face Kent in the LV= Insurance County Championship at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
Despite multiple victories in the shorter form of the game, Kent will be searching for their first Championship win of 2021, with weather dampening many chances of victories in the competition to date.
Darren Stevens leads Kent with the ball so far in the first-class game this season, also with 459 runs at 41.72 alongside his 28 wickets at 20.00.
Matt Quinn’s bowling average remains under 18.00, with 15 wickets now in seven innings at 17.93.
‘Keeper-batter Ollie Robinson tops first-class run charts for the county with 536 in nine innings at 38.28, with Jordan Cox (446) and Jack Leaning (419) all scoring over 400 runs this Championship season.
Tickets
Any remaining tickets, and tickets that our Members have returned to us after they can no longer attend, are on general sale until gates open on each day. As more tickets are released/returned, they will be available to purchase.
Click here to check for Kent vs. Sussex ticket availability >>>
We urge any Members that have booked 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.
Opposition Report
Sussex are currently bottom of Group 3 with one win from nine Championship matches so far.
Tom Haines currently has the most runs for the visitors with 648 at 43.20 including two centuries, whilst ‘keeper Alex Davies has 584 runs to his name at 41.71.
With the ball, Jack Carson (31) and Ollie Robinson (29) lead the way for Sussex this season, both with bowlign averages under 27.00.
Last time out
A defiant half-century from Jack Leaning enabled Kent to cling on for a draw at Emirates Old Trafford in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
Leaning’s unbeaten 53 from 199 balls ensured the visitors were eight down at the close of Day Four of a rain-affected match since James Anderson’s seven for 19 helped dismiss Kent for just 74 in their first innings.
Lancashire pushed hard for the win with Tom Hartley’s best first-class figures of four for 42 giving them more than a sniff as the clock ticked down on a gloomy afternoon in Manchester.
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:
Canterbury Cricket Week
On 1st August 1842, Canterbury Cricket Week was born. It has been celebrated annually, with very few exceptions, since that date. And it is apt to describe it as a celebration, for whilst cricket has been the main attraction, it has always been a great social occasion commanding an audience from near and far.
Early matches were played at the Beverley Ground and featured contests between representative Kent and England sides. The Kentish Gazette, reporting the matches in that first Week, highlighted the performances for Kent of two outstanding batsmen of that time, Fuller Pilch and Nicholas Felix, reporting that “The cricket proved worthy of the occasion….”
The first Week at The Spitfire Ground was in 1847, the two matches being Kent v England and the Gentlemen of Kent v the Gentlemen of England.
When Kent won its first Championship in 1906 there were innings victories against Sussex and Lancashire during Canterbury Week, this latter match being the subject of the famous painting by Albert Chevellier Tayler showing Colin Blythe bowling to J.T. Tyldesley.
There was Leslie Ames’ one hundredth hundred in 1950 and the record second wicket partnership of 366 between Simon Hinks and Neil Taylor in 1990.
Canterbury Week is something special. Its history and tradition is unique. It is one of sport’s outstanding Summer occasions, ranking alongside Wimbledon, Ascot and Henley.
Live Streaming
Kent vs. Sussex will be live streamed via Kent Cricket’s Official YouTube Channel and embedded into the Match Centre on the Kent Cricket website.
Team News
Following on from the Club’s statement this morning, the start of Day One has been delayed due to regulatory formalities.
Kent’s squad in full:
Match Previews of Kent’s LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures are proudly sponsored by FGS Plant Ltd. >>>
