@Addick Addict saw your comment regarding Stafford (Jordan’s dad) umpiring. Weirdly enough just came across one of his comments in the kent group, said the move was not for financial reasons… What other reasons could that be? Kent to essex isn’t a move you’d want to make unless you were desperate to get out a county, despite how well they do in four day cricket.
2 county championships and 1 covid era Bob Willis championship in the last 6 years. Why wouldn't you want to join them ?
And a couple of T20 blast wins. Rossington is old and overweight and somehow still plays all formats. Not a good keeper but has to keep due to lack of alternatives and lack of agility elsewhere in the field.
I expect Cox to be first choice keeper in all formats at Essex next season. Whereas if he stayed at Kent he would be behind Billings for as long as he is around and chooses to play/keep.
also mentioned on Test Match Special that Essex's Lawrence could well move to Surrey for next season
Already announced. I can't begrudge Essex taking Cox from us, as they're not one of of moneybags counties poaching players and not producing their own .
Foakes also went down that road a few years ago.
Foakes was a different situation. He left because of lack of opportunities at Essex. They still had James Foster at the time and even though he was clearly on the way out and Foakes was incredibly highly rated they refused to share the keeping responsibilities between the 2 of them. After a couple years Foakes got fed up and Surrey offered him the opportunity to be first choice keeper in all formats. He's never looked back.
Stupid from Essex as Foster retired a year and a half later and they've struggled for keepers ever since.
Do England players care what division their county is in? They play so little for their counties, that it's a minor issue for them. And why poach an established England Test player, who'll never play for you anyway?
Stokes, Root, Bairstow, Brook, Wood, Robinson, Tongue, Potts have all played for England this summer as Div 2 cricketers.
IMO under the current England regime - once you are “in” it doesn’t really matter which div you play in.
Once established I don't think it does matter but it is the getting "in" that is more of an issue if you are playing in Div 2. How many of the current squad were actually first picked while playing in Div 2? And how many were batsmen? If one untried batsman is scoring big and quick runs in Div 1 then there are more likely to be first picked doing so in Div 2. For example, the next two on the keeping/batting ranks are Jamie Smith (41.81 @ a SR of 64.38) and Ollie Robinson (58.86 @ 85.45) - they are both scoring runs but Robinson at a much faster rate. Is that going to be enough or does the fact Smith play in Div 1 count more? As it happens, next season will be a level playing field. As we've seen with Tongue it's more about how quick he bowls in order to be selected (and I suspect the fact that he dismissed Steve Smith). I don't think wickets matter from that perspective otherwise someone like Sam Cook would have been picked.
That said, I am getting more and more the impression that Cox wants to get away from Kent because of what he perceives are the influences of certain individuals that he feels are restricting his progress. He was third choice keeper and Billings has made a big thing on social media about what he's done for Cox "I literally gave Jordan the gloves this year". Now Billings might have done that off his own back or he might have been persuaded to do so. But there is no doubt whatsoever that Billings has in the last three or four season been riding on the back of his reputation rather than what he has actually done for Kent - 24 inning in all comps with a top score of 36 .
When the announcement that Billings was going to step down from the CC it was made "following discussions". He wasn't dropped from the Blast too though was he? He then took three weeks off and even posted on social media him and Jos Buttler at a concert in Amsterdam last week. Walker then said that it was too quick for him to go back and play in the CC game against Notts. So why hadn't he been playing for the 2s in order to find some form? Then yesterday he was fine to play for the 2s when he might not play for us again this season if he doesn't want to so, presumably, that was in preparation for his stint of franchise starting next week. If you were a youngster seeing a senior player not performing but still being picked when he's available to play, are you not going to be concerned that all the time that you are going to be restricted by him.
Let's put it another way. If Ollie Robinson was still at Kent would he be nearer or further away from playing for England? If he was still at Kent would his opportunities have been restricted by the presence of Billings? It is because Kent believe that they've given Cox the opportunities to develop (that meant that Robinson was dropped from the CC last season and not given a game in the Blast) that Kent feel aggrieved. Release a poorly performing Billings (instead of giving him a 3 year contract) and we might have still had both Robinson and Cox. Might. At the very worst we could have had a committed Robinson or Cox who both have more longevity in the game than Billings.
17 year olds, Ekansh Singh and Jadyn Denly are both in the side to play Hertfordshire today. Kent are batting with Compton and Leaning opening the batting.
PWR Has Matt Walker been sacked, I saw something on Twatter about an interim coach?
No - or not yet if that is going to happen. He is off coaching a team in another format of the game - the one we try not to mention. So Simon Cook is our coach while that is going on assisted by Hogan who won't be playing in the 50 over competition.
PWR Has Matt Walker been sacked, I saw something on Twatter about an interim coach?
No - or not yet if that is going to happen. He is off coaching a team in another format of the game - the one we try not to mention. So Simon Cook is our coach while that is going on assisted by Hogan who won't be playing in the 50 over competition.
Seems a bit odd in the middle of a season, particularly as Kent are pretty woeful at the moment, is that unusual or the norm?
PWR Has Matt Walker been sacked, I saw something on Twatter about an interim coach?
No - or not yet if that is going to happen. He is off coaching a team in another format of the game - the one we try not to mention. So Simon Cook is our coach while that is going on assisted by Hogan who won't be playing in the 50 over competition.
Seems a bit odd in the middle of a season, particularly as Kent are pretty woeful at the moment, is that unusual or the norm?
Walker did the same thing last season. The argument is "how can you allow players to go off if you aren't going to allow coaches too?". Cook was coach for the 50 over comp last season too and we ended up winning it.
14 man squad for tomorrow's 50 over game against Yorkshire. We are missing Billings, Denly, DBD, Cox, Crawley, Muyeye and Klaassen:
why so many out? The 2nd innings against Notts was 'disappointing' to say the least!
Apart from Denly, the rest have been signed up for that other competition. Players like DBD and Billings were not fit enough to play against Notts but managed a 50 over game on Friday for the 2s in preparation for their matches starting this week. It's great that Kent can be of service in that respect.
Possibly so. Gilchrist has been a reluctant selection despite being in the last few squads including yesterday's match against Hertfordshire which does just suggest that he might not quite be ready but travels with the squad to work on his fitness. That said, we might just have been saving him. I would love to see Jas play given that I've known him since he was 8 and he's one of Seb's best friends but I will be also honest enough to say that he has been a better red ball bowler both here and in Australia - though the only way to prove that you have improved in white ball is by playing.
14 man squad for tomorrow's 50 over game against Yorkshire. We are missing Billings, Denly, DBD, Cox, Crawley, Muyeye and Klaassen:
why so many out? The 2nd innings against Notts was 'disappointing' to say the least!
Apart from Denly, the rest have been signed up for that other competition. Players like DBD and Billings were not fit enough to play against Notts but managed a 50 over game on Friday for the 2s in preparation for their matches starting this week. It's great that Kent can be of service in that respect.
that bl**dy other competition?! Not been on here for a while, for various reasons (different section to the site and people unable to be objective and logical!)
what went on with DBD having the retire hurt in the last but one T20 then several missing for the last one (then us not qualifying for the quarter finals)?
14 man squad for tomorrow's 50 over game against Yorkshire. We are missing Billings, Denly, DBD, Cox, Crawley, Muyeye and Klaassen:
why so many out? The 2nd innings against Notts was 'disappointing' to say the least!
Apart from Denly, the rest have been signed up for that other competition. Players like DBD and Billings were not fit enough to play against Notts but managed a 50 over game on Friday for the 2s in preparation for their matches starting this week. It's great that Kent can be of service in that respect.
that bl**dy other competition?! Not been on here for a while, for various reasons (different section to the site and people unable to be objective and logical!)
what went on with DBD having the retire hurt in the last but one T20 then several missing for the last one (then us not qualifying for the quarter finals)?
I'm not sure but I think DBD probably played that T20 because we still had a chance of qualifying then the injury ruled him out thereafter. Billings took three weeks away from the game and only returned on Friday for a 50 over 2s match. You will need to go back a few pages to learn about the circumstances surrounding the departure of Cox. From his father's comments on social media, I understand that Kent did offer him a contract, that his decision to leave wasn't financial but that he perceived that there was a stumbling block in the way. Various questions have been asked by supporters as to why we are now producing so few homegrown players and why those that have come through in recent times are so keen to leave.
I see Kent have got 3 nice "summer holiday" away venues coming up, Scarborough tomorrow, Blackpool next Wednesday, and Newport on the IoW later in the month.
Good BBC article covering all the counties, and who will be playing for them in the 50 over cup
Thanks for the link. Surrey have 13 away competing in that other competition. One of the commentators during the Ashes queried how Stewart was able to keep bringing in more expensive players to Surrey (with the 'salary cap'?) when they were discussing Dan Lawrence joining them
Good BBC article covering all the counties, and who will be playing for them in the 50 over cup
Thanks for the link. Surrey have 13 away competing in that other competition. One of the commentators during the Ashes queried how Stewart was able to keep bringing in more expensive players to Surrey (with the 'salary cap'?) when they were discussing Dan Lawrence joining them
Having a few that are centrally contracted like Pope, Sam Curran and Foakes will help. Stewart has said that players like Laurie Evans and Tom Curran are only now likely to be offered white ball contracts which will reduce the overall salary situation. Also, I can't help feeling that playing for a county such as Surrey helps attracting individual sponsors that, in turn, makes it more attractive to go there.
Comments
That said, I am getting more and more the impression that Cox wants to get away from Kent because of what he perceives are the influences of certain individuals that he feels are restricting his progress. He was third choice keeper and Billings has made a big thing on social media about what he's done for Cox "I literally gave Jordan the gloves this year". Now Billings might have done that off his own back or he might have been persuaded to do so. But there is no doubt whatsoever that Billings has in the last three or four season been riding on the back of his reputation rather than what he has actually done for Kent - 24 inning in all comps with a top score of 36 .
When the announcement that Billings was going to step down from the CC it was made "following discussions". He wasn't dropped from the Blast too though was he? He then took three weeks off and even posted on social media him and Jos Buttler at a concert in Amsterdam last week. Walker then said that it was too quick for him to go back and play in the CC game against Notts. So why hadn't he been playing for the 2s in order to find some form? Then yesterday he was fine to play for the 2s when he might not play for us again this season if he doesn't want to so, presumably, that was in preparation for his stint of franchise starting next week. If you were a youngster seeing a senior player not performing but still being picked when he's available to play, are you not going to be concerned that all the time that you are going to be restricted by him.
Let's put it another way. If Ollie Robinson was still at Kent would he be nearer or further away from playing for England? If he was still at Kent would his opportunities have been restricted by the presence of Billings? It is because Kent believe that they've given Cox the opportunities to develop (that meant that Robinson was dropped from the CC last season and not given a game in the Blast) that Kent feel aggrieved. Release a poorly performing Billings (instead of giving him a 3 year contract) and we might have still had both Robinson and Cox. Might. At the very worst we could have had a committed Robinson or Cox who both have more longevity in the game than Billings.
56-0 off 8
Compton 62* (56)
Leaning 46* (35)
Compton
O'Riordan
Evison
Leaning
Blake
Finch
Bazley
Stewart
Qadri
Quinn
Parkinson
what went on with DBD having the retire hurt in the last but one T20 then several missing for the last one (then us not qualifying for the quarter finals)?
Good BBC article covering all the counties, and who will be playing for them in the 50 over cup
https://www.kentcricket.co.uk/fixture/yorkshire-vikings-vs-kent-spitfires/
6-1
36-2 off 9