Match Report: Kent vs. Gloucestershire
Kent Men’s final match of the 2026 season was at home to Gloucestershire in the Rothesay County Championship.
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The curtain comes down on the 2026 season at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury as Kent Men take on Gloucestershire in the Rothesay County Championship.
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Match reports supplied by the ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
Day Three Report
Kent have been promoted to Division One of the Rothesay County Championship, after an eight-win over Gloucestershire at Canterbury.
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Matt Milnes took 5 for 33 as Gloucestershire were dismissed for 241. Kamran Dhariwal was their top scorer with a battling 66, but by the time Kent started the chase they already knew they’d been promoted, after learning their only rivals, Northamptonshire had lost to Middlesex at Lord’s.
Sam Northeast then hit an unbeaten 49 and England’s Zak Crawley made 44, as Kent cruised home, finishing on 120 for two.
Kent went into day three knowing victory would guarantee second place, but Tom Boorman was dropped in the first over, after he’d edged Khaled Ahmed: keeper Chris Benjamin left it for first slip Crawley, who seemed surprised and missed the chance.
However, both overnight batters went in the space of seven balls. Miles Hammond edged Khaled to Tawanda Muyeye for 42, before Boorman nicked Milnes behind.
Kamran Dhariwal and Daaryoush Ahmed batted Gloucestershire into the lead and Daaryoush was probably unlucky to be lbw to 34 to Khaled off what looked like an inside edge, but there was no arguing about James Bracey’s dismissal: batting with a runner, he spooled Milnes to Keith Dudgeon at mid-on and it was 150 for six at lunch.
Sai Kishore was Milnes’ fifth victim when he was caught by Muyeye at first and Muyeye then took his 27th championship catch of the season, when Che Simmons edged Dudgeon.
With Gloucestershire eight down, the news filtered through that Northamptonshire had lost to Middlesex and a wave of applause swept round the ground.
Any tension melted away, although Matt Taylor made a useful 34 to at least give the visitors something to defend. Dhariwal finally fell to Muyeye, swishing him to Northeast at mid-off and the innings ended when Taylor drove Ekansh Singh to skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond, setting a target of 117.
Crawley cracked the first ball of the chase for four, from JT Langridge and two balls later he was dropped by Ollie Price at second.
Langridge did get Ben Compton lbw for four and Crawley’s livewire innings when he reverse-swept Kishore for four, only to slog-sweep the next ball vertically. He walked off before Hammond had even taken the catch, but he’d broken the back of the chase.
With the target down to 12, Northeast hit Price for six over cow corner, before hitting the next two balls for four, to crown promotion and seal Kent’s eighth win of the season.
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Kent’s Adam Hollioake said: “It feels good and I feel like we’ve been working towards it for a while so I’ve been I’ve been quietly confident for a while but I think it’s just a nice relief to have it actually done.
“I wasn’t confident at all last year at all and even after three games this year we were I was questioning myself as a coach and I think all the players were questioning themselves as well so it’s been a pretty remarkable turnaround and credit to all the players for the way they’ve responded.
“I think as coach you there would take the criticism when it’s not going so well and I think you probably try and sit in the background when things go well as well.
“I think if you’re not doing that you’re probably not doing the right job as a coach so it’s really easy to stand there and tell people what they should be doing. It’s actually really hard to go out there and actually do it so you know the players deserve all the credit.
“I mean obviously I’ve been I was telling them all last year what to do as well, but you know their ability this year to go out and execute the plans and pick themselves up, after what was a really tough start to the season, has been the main reason for our turnaround and our success.”
Day Two Report
Kent took a tentative stride towards promotion from Division Two of the Rothesay County Championship on day two of their game with Gloucestershire at Canterbury.
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Ben Compton hit 126 as Kent posted 353 to lead by 124 after the first innings. Daniel Bell-Drummond was the next highest scorer with 55, while JT Langridge was the visitors’ leading wicket-taker with 3-105.
Matt Milnes then took two for six to reduce Gloucestershire to 13 for two, although they’d recovered to 61 for two by stumps, to trail by 63.
Knowing a win would guarantee promotion, Kent resumed on 71 for one, but Langridge got Sam Northeast with the very first ball of the day, getting a leading edge that went to gully and he then got Tawanda Muyeye lbw for 11.
Che Simmons was struggling with no balls however, and one of them robbed him of a wicket when Compton nicked him behind.
Kent were luckier still when Bell-Drummond slashed at Sai Kishore and Ollie Price dropped him at second slip, leaving the hosts on 183 for 3 at lunch.
Kishore looked menacing and got Bell-Drummond when he tried to whip him through midwicket, thanks to an outstanding catch by Joe Phillips.
Chris Benjamin drove Matt Taylor to put Kent in the lead but fell soon afterwards, when Kishore got him with one that turned sharply and hit middle.
Compton, who hadn’t passed double figures in his last six innings, vindicated Kent’s faith in him by clinching his century when he clipped Langridge for four, but he then started to run out of partners. Daaryoush Ahmed ended Ekansh Singh’s lively innings for 31 when stand-in keeper Miles Hammond took a brilliant diving catch and Milnes made just five when he edged Daaryoush to the sub, Ed Middleton, at second.
Three balls from the scheduled tea interval Taylor had Compton caught behind, but the lead was already 97. Matt Quinn made 12 before Simmons got him with the first ball of his spell, caught at cover by Tom Boorman. Simmons then wrapped up the innings when he had Khaled Ahmed lbw for a duck.
That left the visitors with 22 overs to face and Milnes got Joe Phillips caught by Muyeye off the very first ball of Gloucestershire’s second innings.
He then sent Ollie Price’s middle stump cartwheeling for nine, but Tom Boorman and Miles Hammond prevented further damage, ending the day on 11 and 33 respectively – Hammond looked significantly more comfortable than his partner.
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Kent’s Ben Compton said: “I think that was, again, another ideal day. It was a tricky pitch. I think there’s enough in there for the bowlers, but if you miss, it’s also nice to score. So you could measure that and say it’s a good cricket wicket. I think we’re pretty happy with our score and obviously to get a couple tonight was very, very good. Matt Milnes has been excellent for us all year and backed up well by Matt Quinn and Dudgeon and the rest of those.
“I think we’ve got a big job to do tomorrow., we just hope we put the ball in the right area. I think there’s enough there, so just going to be consistent with that. And yeah, I think we’re in a good spot. Personally, I was itching for an impactful score and to try and put us in a good position, so I was very, very happy in that regard. Just grateful I could spend some time out there and put us in a good position.
(On the Northants-Middlesex game)
“I think we are quite strong and just trying to focus on what we do. Of course we probably check the score and Toby, our resident fan over there, is always telling us and giving us updates, but it’s all irrelevant in the respect that we’ve just got to take care of what’s here. We can’t control what happens at Lord’s and so we’ve just got to have all our focus here.
“I think the main thing is to get over the line. However that happens, that’s what we all care about and what we’re focused on. So yeah, we’ve got two days of cricket here and what happens will happen, but we’ve got to take care of our skills tomorrow and come in hot and take each thing as it comes.
“It’s been a strange season for me. It’s the first time being quite heavily injured and just watching the boys, how we’ve grown as a side and as a unit. Last year was pretty torrid and this year we’re not only competing but excelling and just looking like a well-oiled machine. And just seeing some guys, Matt Milnes been exceptional as I’ve already mentioned and our whole batting line-up has really gelled as a unit. It’s not one guy every week, everyone’s coming in and playing important marks and accounts and our bowlers have been excellent all year.”
Day One Report
Kent were 71 for one at stumps after day one of their Rothesay County Championship game with Gloucestershire at Canterbury, trailing by 158.
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The promotion-hopefuls dismissed Gloucestershire for 229 after choosing to bowl, with Matt Milnes taking four for 55. James Bracey top-scored with 86, while Ollie Price made 52.
JT Langridge then got Zak Crawley for one, but Ben Compton and Sam Northeast were not out on 33 and 27 respectively at stumps.
Needing 20 points to guarantee promotion, Kent chose to bowl on a track so green it was difficult to see the edges of the strip, although it didn’t play that badly.
Matt Milnes struck in the second over, Joe Phillips wafting him to Sam Northeast at first, but Gloucestershire responded well, with a stand worth 62 between Price and Tom Boorman, that was broken by Ekansh Singh shortly before lunch when he had the latter caught behind for 29.
It was 74 for two at the interval, during which Grant Stewart (who wasn’t selected for this fixture) was presented with his county cap, becoming the 224th Kent player to receive that honour.
Matt Quinn got Miles Hammond for 14, edging to Tawanda Muyeye at third, before Keith Dudgeon had Price lbw.
Kamran Dhariwal slashed Milnes to Muyeye for two and Daaryoush Ahmed was bowled by Khaled Ahmed for four. Khaled then had Sai Kishore caught behind for a duck, before bowling Che Simmons for four.
Matt Taylor, however, helped Gloucestershire to 208 for eight at tea, after which Boorman came out as a runner for Bracey, who’d earlier been hit on the leg after a shy at the stumps by the sub Bertie Foreman.
They put on 58 for the ninth wicket before Milnes wrapped up the innings with two wickets in four balls. He had Bracey caught by Northeast at gully before taking a violent return catch to get JT Langridge for a duck.
Bracey’s injury meant Hammond had to keep wicket, but the visitors had some early joy when Langridge got Zak Crawley for one, plumb lbw in the third over. Ben Compton and Northeast steadied things, however. With four overs left, and the light fading, the umpires told Gloucestershire they’d have to bowl their spinners and after two of these they decided to go off.
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Kent’s Matt Quinn said: “I feel like we’re fully ahead of the game at the moment. Obviously, there’s a lot of work to do tomorrow with the bat, but I think at the start of the day, if you’d said 229 all out, and one down at close, we’d be very happy.
“That first session. I thought we bowled well, beat the edge a lot, and I think we reaped the rewards in that second session, picking up some poles. I think we all bowled well together, you know, took wickets and kept the run rate down and dry.
“There was a little bit of nip, I think, it was not like the wicket we played on here last time.
“It was a little bit slow at the start, but definitely felt like it sped up a little bit as the game went on, which normally happens at the top end of the square. But yeah, a little bit of nip about. I feel like every over, you always felt like there was one ball where something could happen, which is obviously nice when you’re bowling up the hill at Canterbury.
(On Milnes) “He’s been unbelievable. It’s been a pleasure to bowl alongside him so much. He just makes stuff happen, and for me, at the other end, I just feel like I can just lock it down and I know that Milnes is going to pick up a few poles. I think he’s on 49 wickets this year. Hopefully he goes and gets 50 next innings, but yeah, he’s had a phenomenal season and I’m so pleased to have him back here at Kent.”
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