Come on people, there's absolutely nothing dodgy about Surrey flying in from a Test match in Pakistan and paying for an all expenses trip, for just one game, a spinner with a suspect action. I mean they only had at least another three contracted spinners with legal actions that they might have utilised instead
That said, it must have been a bit of a distraction for Shakib to be playing for Surrey given that he had only just been named in a case involving murder:
Fred Klaassen has signed a new one-year white ball contract. Tom Rogers is returning for next season's Blast and will line up, potentially, alongside Klaassen and Wes Agar.
Somewhat disappointingly, this is what Simon Cook has had to say about the certainty of our overseas players actually arriving and other signings:
“We’re at a point now where it’s unlikely we will be making any signings, certainly domestically,” said Cook.
“Overseas player-wise, there’s still possibly a bit of player movement that we can do. We have got Wes until July to cover T20 cricket and four-day cricket.
“Tom Rogers is coming back for the T20s so, that covers that, but we don’t have anyone yet for the back-half of the year in terms of the One-Day Cup and the County Championship games at the back-end. We will need to look at that.
“That’s where Adam’s stamp will start to come with that overseas player coverage at the back-end of the year.”
Rogers has played for Tasmania in Australia’s One-Day Cup this winter while Agar has represented South Australia - in the same competition and the Sheffield Shield.
While Rogers and Agar have agreed to return, there are several factors to take into consideration around overseas signings, with Kent not having much luck within that department in 2024.
As he prepares for a second full season in his role, Cook said: “You just don’t know who’s going to arrive.
“We have got Wes locked in - but he might not arrive. We just don’t know yet.
“The overseas player market is such you can have the best-laid plans and have all the overseas players locked in right now, and they’ll all be different by the time April 4 comes around!
“That’s my one big learning from last year. Don’t count your chickens.
“Even once you have signed all your players and everything else, don’t just assume they’ll turn up because it’s a very different space when you actually get to the tournament.”
A lot of one year deals being signed. An element of wait and see on both sides.
I can't find any announcement regarding the length of the most recent contracts signed by O'Riordan and Stewart but, assuming they run out in 2025, from what I can see only Benjamin (2027), Leaning (2026), Jaydn Denly (2026) and Parkinson (2026) have contracts that have more than a year to run.
Crawley, Compton, Quinn, Gilchrist and now Klassen have signed 1 year deals to cover 2025, so nobody seems to have left other than the fringe players like Qadri and Bhuiyan. Crawley is a central contract player, and Fred white ball anyway, so that just leaves the other 3, who have done enough to get another deal, and not been so good to get a move elsewhere...
A lot of one year deals being signed. An element of wait and see on both sides.
I can't find any announcement regarding the length of the most recent contracts signed by O'Riordan and Stewart but, assuming they run out in 2025, from what I can see only Benjamin (2027), Leaning (2026), Jaydn Denly (2026) and Parkinson (2026) have contracts that have more than a year to run.
Nothing has been announced about those 2, so strange if they've signed new deals without it being mentioned. Whether O'Riordan justifies another year, unless he's very cheap, is debatable.
Comments
https://www.kentcricket.co.uk/news/adam-hollioake-appointed-mens-head-coach/
Makes our T20 match on June 6th a bit tastier !
Bring it on !!
Nicking one of Surrey 's youngsters.
https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/4185266/shakib-al-hasan-suspended-from-bowling
Surely Surrey should be docked 150 points for that.
That said, it must have been a bit of a distraction for Shakib to be playing for Surrey given that he had only just been named in a case involving murder:
https://www.wisden.com/series/pakistan-vs-bangladesh-2024/cricket-news/explained-the-shakib-murder-mystery-and-whats-next-for-the-bangladesh-all-rounder
Somewhat disappointingly, this is what Simon Cook has had to say about the certainty of our overseas players actually arriving and other signings:
“We’re at a point now where it’s unlikely we will be making any signings, certainly domestically,” said Cook.
“Overseas player-wise, there’s still possibly a bit of player movement that we can do. We have got Wes until July to cover T20 cricket and four-day cricket.
“Tom Rogers is coming back for the T20s so, that covers that, but we don’t have anyone yet for the back-half of the year in terms of the One-Day Cup and the County Championship games at the back-end. We will need to look at that.
“That’s where Adam’s stamp will start to come with that overseas player coverage at the back-end of the year.”
Rogers has played for Tasmania in Australia’s One-Day Cup this winter while Agar has represented South Australia - in the same competition and the Sheffield Shield.
While Rogers and Agar have agreed to return, there are several factors to take into consideration around overseas signings, with Kent not having much luck within that department in 2024.
As he prepares for a second full season in his role, Cook said: “You just don’t know who’s going to arrive.
“We have got Wes locked in - but he might not arrive. We just don’t know yet.
“The overseas player market is such you can have the best-laid plans and have all the overseas players locked in right now, and they’ll all be different by the time April 4 comes around!
“That’s my one big learning from last year. Don’t count your chickens.
“Even once you have signed all your players and everything else, don’t just assume they’ll turn up because it’s a very different space when you actually get to the tournament.”
This is the squad for 2025 as it currently looks:
Batsmen:
Chris Benjamin
Daniel Bell-Drummond
Ben Compton
Zak Crawley
Joe Denly
Jack Leaning
Tawanda Muyeye
Ekansh Singh
Keepers
Sam Billings (white ball)
Ben Dawkins
Harry Finch
Seamers:
Wes Agar (overseas, April-July)
Michael Cohen
Joey Evison
George Garrett
Nathan Gilchrist
Fred Klaassen (white ball)
Matt Quinn
Tom Rogers (overseas, Vitality Blast)
Jas Singh
Grant Stewart
Spinners:
Jaydn Denly
Marcus O'Riordan
Matt Parkinson
Nothing has been announced about those 2, so strange if they've signed new deals without it being mentioned. Whether O'Riordan justifies another year, unless he's very cheap, is debatable.