Symonds crowned as Spitfires’ Greatest Overseas Star
Sunday 19th April 2020
Former Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been voted as the greatest white-ball overseas player in the Club’s history since the name ‘Kent Spitfires’ was taken up on 13th April 1999.
The poll, supported by the Club’s elite partners WW Martin and hosted across all the Club’s digital channels for seven days, pitted all 36 of the Spitfires’ imports directly against each other in the hunt to be named as ‘the Greatest’.
Supporters were given three individual choices when making their selections to give the vote as broad a range as possible.
Symonds received 443 out of 2,032 total votes cast after leading the polls for the majority of the week-long search.
He saw-off the likes of Azhar Mahmood (331), who originally signed for Kent as an overseas player before gaining British nationality, New Zealander Matt Henry (189) and India’s Rahul Dravid (153), who remains popular with Kent supporters ever since his one-year stint with the Club in 2000. South African Andrew Hall (149) completed the top-five of the overall standings.
In 62 List A appearances for the Spitfires from 1999 to 2004, Symonds scored 1,690 runs at an average of 30.17, including ten scores of fifty or more.
His highest one-day total of 146 came against Lancashire at Tunbridge Wells in 2004. He also took 69 wickets at 21.53, including two five-wicket hauls. His best of 5/18 was in 2001 against Warwickshire, in the match that ultimately saw Kent crowned as Norwich Union League champions that year.
The right-armer also featured in Kent’s first ever T20 match in 2003, smashing 96 not out from just 37 deliveries in his trademark aggressive fashion.
He also achieved a world record for the quickest T20 century at Maidstone in 2004 against Middlesex, reaching his ton in only 34 balls and in 37 minutes, ending on 112 from 43.
His batting average in T20s for Kent was a huge 35.77 in ten appearances, and he took seven wickets at 33.28.
Symonds is also one of only five players in the Club’s history to record a score of 100 or more in all three formats of the game for Kent.
The Greatest Kent Spitfires Overseas Star vote is proudly supported by W.W. Martin >>>
