I was looking through some old photos of various Kent sides and one thing struck me - how many of our players from the squads of the mid 80s tragically passed away so prematurely - Bob Woolmer (at 58), Richard Davis (37), Alan Igglesden (57), Danny Kelleher (29), Graham Cowdrey (56), Graham Dilley (52) and Graham Kersey (25). That's seven in total and yet I am struggling to think of many that have left us from post that era. I also read a very sad coincidence - Davis, Igglesden and Kelleher all signed their first pro Kent contracts on the same day.
I was looking through some old photos of various Kent sides and one thing struck me - how many of our players from the squads of the mid 80s tragically passed away so prematurely - Bob Woolmer (at 58), Richard Davis (37), Alan Igglesden (57), Danny Kelleher (29), Graham Cowdrey (56), Graham Dilley (52) and Graham Kersey (25). That's seven in total and yet I am struggling to think of many that have left us from post that era. I also read a very sad coincidence - Davis, Igglesden and Kelleher all signed their first pro Kent contracts on the same day.
I was looking through some old photos of various Kent sides and one thing struck me - how many of our players from the squads of the mid 80s tragically passed away so prematurely - Bob Woolmer (at 58), Richard Davis (37), Alan Igglesden (57), Danny Kelleher (29), Graham Cowdrey (56), Graham Dilley (52) and Graham Kersey (25). That's seven in total and yet I am struggling to think of many that have left us from post that era. I also read a very sad coincidence - Davis, Igglesden and Kelleher all signed their first pro Kent contracts on the same day.
RIP
I went to College with Kelleher.
I knew Danny too and played with him a couple of times for Sidcup. His Dad, John, was a stalwart of the Club and his Uncle, Harry played for Surrey and Northants. Very sad what happened.
Why a 2 match loan? Is Stewart expected to be out for a couple of weeks or do we have someone lined up to arrive at the end of April?
Probably more Surrey wanting him available at some point soon. With Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Overton, Topley, Dunn and Jordan all unavailable for various reasons we are heavily reliant on our 4 quicks Roach, Abbott, Worrall and Clark. With games back to back and the amount of overs we put into their legs in the first match we are going to need to rest/rotate at some point. We have Lawes who is massively talented but very young and they want to handle him carefully and Atkinson who has potential but has had some injuries. Mckerr is our most experienced back up bowler and so we aren't going to be willing to let him go for too long.
I imagine there is potential to extend if others come back fit or if the likes of Lawes/Atkinson impress when called upon.
Why a 2 match loan? Is Stewart expected to be out for a couple of weeks or do we have someone lined up to arrive at the end of April?
Probably more Surrey wanting him available at some point soon. With Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Overton, Topley, Dunn and Jordan all unavailable for various reasons we are heavily reliant on our 4 quicks Roach, Abbott, Worrall and Clark. With games back to back and the amount of overs we put into their legs in the first match we are going to need to rest/rotate at some point. We have Lawes who is massively talented but very young and they want to handle him carefully and Atkinson who has potential but has had some injuries. Mckerr is our most experienced back up bowler and so we aren't going to be willing to let him go for too long.
I imagine there is potential to extend if others come back fit or if the likes of Lawes/Atkinson impress when called upon.
Gilchrist is playing in the current 2s game and will probably be fit by then plus there is a chance that Linde will return at some point. We've also included Klaassen in the squad and he hasn't played in the CC since April 2021. Stewart might return in a couple of weeks too.
Unlike Blake, Klaassen's never been on a white ball only contract but hasn't been considered for the CC for two years and has only taken 9 wickets in his 5 matches. I do wonder if his full contract runs out at the end of the summer and he has consequently asked to be given an opportunity to prove that he isn't a white ball only bowler. In fact, as he has also been contracted to The Hundred, he has only played in the Vitality Blast during which time he has bowled a total of just 89 overs in two seasons which further undermines the value to Kent of the contract he signed. Neither party has much to lose by giving him this opportunity.
So Kent won the toss and put Warwickshire in. We left out Klaassen from the 12 and Quinn injured himself in the 4th over of his opening spell. Evision has just taken our first wicket with his third ball and Warwickshire are 41-1
A cynical supporter emailed in to the commentary team suggesting that the likes of Stewart and Quinn would not have got injured had we not been playing in temperatures of 10 degrees. The even more cynical commentator suggested that this wouldn't happen in August when we don't actually play any CC cricket.
We really do let ourselves down when we have the situation where a player on loan has to where someone else's shirt. If we can't get someone to print the guy's name on a shirt then surely we have some that are blank?
Quinn's injury isn't fatal by all accounts. A touch of frost bite has been treated with a cup of bovril and he is now back on the pitch. In fact, in time to take the catch for the second wicket.
So, Quinn and Hogan opened with combined spells of 9.4-2-15-0. We then changed tack and went down the "buying" wicket route with McKerr and Evision sharing figures of 10.2-0-65-2
We really do let ourselves down when we have the situation where a player on loan has to where someone else's shirt. If we can't get someone to print the guy's name on a shirt then surely we have some that are blank?
Someone in the seconds was wearing a Billings shirt.
Maybe if we can get someone to wear a Matt Henry shirt, they'll bowl like him...
Meanwhile, in the 2s game, it appears that Kent either do not fancy a bat or are bowling for a declaration.
This is the final day and Sussex declared their first innings on 175-3. We then declared our first innings without going to the crease and Sussex are currently 212-2 off 29 overs in their second innings i.e. 387 ahead. One would think that Sussex will declare at lunch.
Meanwhile, in the 2s game, it appears that Kent either do not fancy a bat or are bowling for a declaration.
This is the final day and Sussex declared their first innings on 175-3. We then declared our first innings without going to the crease and Sussex are currently 212-2 off 29 overs in their second innings i.e. 387 ahead. One would think that Sussex will declare at lunch.
Two balls later we get our 3rd wicket and Sussex declare on 214-3 leaving us 390 to get to win the match in two sessions.
Meanwhile, in the 2s game, it appears that Kent either do not fancy a bat or are bowling for a declaration.
This is the final day and Sussex declared their first innings on 175-3. We then declared our first innings without going to the crease and Sussex are currently 212-2 off 29 overs in their second innings i.e. 387 ahead. One would think that Sussex will declare at lunch.
Two balls later we get our 3rd wicket and Sussex declare on 214-3 leaving us 390 to get to win the match in two sessions.
It's the demon Denly breaking the long 3rd wicket stand. That's we've bowled 15 overs of spin on day 1 in early April says a lot about our seam bowling resources
It's the demon Denly breaking the long 3rd wicket stand. That's we've bowled 15 overs of spin on day 1 in early April says a lot about our seam bowling resources
The two wickets that we took early on were poorly executed shots too. Unfortunately, we could see this coming but if there are no demons in the wicket then there is no reason why we can't match them with the bat. How Woakes bowls on it will be the acid test.
Start delayed due to rain which improves our chance of a draw. Warwickshire should get 500 plus now and assuming we don't pick up three more wickets inside 14 overs we will end up with one bowling point. We then need to score 450 ourselves inside 110 overs for 5 batting points which should be sufficient to give us a draw and meaning that we earn 11 points from the match. 30 points from the first two games would be a splendid achievement. That's the theory anyway!
Start delayed due to rain which improves our chance of a draw. Warwickshire should get 500 plus now and assuming we don't pick up three more wickets inside 14 overs we will end up with one bowling point. We then need to score 450 ourselves inside 110 overs for 5 batting points which should be sufficient to give us a draw and meaning that we earn 11 points from the match. 30 points from the first two games would be a splendid achievement. That's the theory anyway!
I said that we could go after the Aussie Spencer Johnson. Instead we've signed another - Seb's mate Wes Agar 'til the 21st May. Hopefully Seb will get a chance to catch up with him. Jas Singh knows him well too - they played together in Adelaide. Agar is an absolutely massive unit.
Comments
RIP
I imagine there is potential to extend if others come back fit or if the likes of Lawes/Atkinson impress when called upon.
https://www.kentcricket.co.uk/fixture/warwickshire-vs-kent-3/
69-2
We really do let ourselves down when we have the situation where a player on loan has to where someone else's shirt. If we can't get someone to print the guy's name on a shirt then surely we have some that are blank?
Maybe if we can get someone to wear a Matt Henry shirt, they'll bowl like him...
This is the final day and Sussex declared their first innings on 175-3. We then declared our first innings without going to the crease and Sussex are currently 212-2 off 29 overs in their second innings i.e. 387 ahead. One would think that Sussex will declare at lunch.
The two wickets that we took early on were poorly executed shots too. Unfortunately, we could see this coming but if there are no demons in the wicket then there is no reason why we can't match them with the bat. How Woakes bowls on it will be the acid test.
https://www.kentcricket.co.uk/news/wes-agar-joins-kent-for-pre-t20-championship-block/