Kent under GrahamB (v12.24)

[GrahamB]

KENT v YORKSHIRE (County Championship D2 2013)

Batting first, we came up against a fired up pace attack that quickly reduced us to 121/7!
Only Dominic Cole (56) stood firm until Beckett (28) and Tredwell (24) put together 51 for the eighth wicket.
Still, all out for 195 was a disaster and our home fans were vocal in their disappointment.
Starc (3/39), Patterson (2/31) and Sidebottom (2/39) were all impressive for the visitors.

Things were looking even more ominous as Jaques (47) and Root (69) put on 97 for the opening partnership.
However, after that, we claimed wickets at regular intervals and managed to restrict Yorkshire to 286 all out.
Lees (42) did his best to hold the middle order together, but without success.
Tredwell (3/57) and Carter (3/61) were our most successful bowlers.

Conceding a lead of 91, we would need a much improved effort in our second innings, but we got off to another poor start with both Birch and Cole gone at 29/2.
In marched Mike Powell, for what might possibly be his final appearance in Kent colours. With the responsibility of captaincy upon his shoulders and a point to prove, he stroked his way to an assured half century.
But when Naylor (35) and Powell (56) fell in quick succession, we were back in the poo at 123/4.
Luke Procter has proven to be a valuable signing for us and today he showed his true worth with a fighting unbeaten 140no to save us from embarrassment. Firstly he combined with Cowdrey (93) to put on 212 for the fifth wicket, and then later with Beckett (44no) in an unbeaten seventh wicket stand of 78.
We declared at 423/6, leaving Yorkshire a victory target of 333 in just over two sessions. They would be a batsman short too, with Sayers having been carted off to hospital in their first innings after copping a Beckett bouncer on the helmet.

Yorkshire came out with the intention of chasing right from the start, with Root (43) and Ballance (40) providing the early impetus.
When those two were both gone at 122/3 (effectively 123/4 due to Sayers being unable to bat), we wondered if they might shut up shop.
But no! Adam Lyth (105) blasted a wonderful century and with excellent support from Rashid (63), put his side into a position to achieve a great win.
We thought that we'd managed to save the draw when, with Starc and Hodgson at the crease, 14 runs were needed off the last two overs. But Hodgson (a true tailender) was the unlikely hero as he smashed three boundaries to get his side home.
Murtagh (4/98) and Beckett (2/66) bowled superbly under the circumstances, but we felt let down with Tredwell's figures of 23.3-2-94-0 on a turning wicket.



The final standings:

[GrahamB]

News

Having won the Ashes series 4-1, the Aussies also took out the ODI series 3-2 and the T20's by 2-0.

The English squad will be heading over to Australis shortly to try and reclaim their honour.

[GrahamB]

Season Summary (First Class)

Opening Batsmen

Rob Key was the standout opening batsman, scoring 6 centuries and 2 half centuries in averaging 64.05, before his injury late in the season.
He broke a club record for most runs in a season in the process.
Neil Naylor had a disappointing follow up to his promising debut season, but nevertheless scored 1 century and 6 half centuries in averaging a tidy 34.88.
Ben Birch was promoted from the youth team mid-season. He scored 1 century and 1 half century in his five appearances, averaging 38.75. Possibly worth giving a contract, although he didn't match this success in the shorter forms of the game.
Sam Northeast made just two appearances, scoring 1 half century and averaging 31.50.

Other Batsmen

Dominic Cole was our standout batsman last season, so we were hoping for big things again. However, although he scored 2 centuries and 6 half centuries in averaging 38.75, we felt a little disappointed.
All-rounderLuke Procter turned out be be a valuable addition to our squad. We'd signed him purely on his batting and he delivered the goods, scoring 4 centuries and 5 half centuries, averaging an impressive 50.00.
Mike Powell will be turning 37 years old during the off season and it is unlikely that we'll renew his contract. He scored 8 half centuries in averaging 34.57.
Fabian Cowdrey is still developing, but he scored 3 half centuries in his ten appearances this season, averaging 34.69.
Darren Stevens was not called up for any County Championship games this season. He has one year still to run on his contract, but if retained, will only be used in the shorter forms of the game.
New keeper Tim Ambrose was a disappointment with the bat, scoring just 3 half centuries on his way to averaging 23.96. We'll definitely be on the look out for another keeper before next season, especially because our current back up, Geraint Jones, will be leaving the club.
All-rounder Eric Beckett was another of our new players this season. He was signed on a hunch, having had little previous experience, but showing possible talent. In ten appearances, he scored 1 century in averaging 39.08 with the bat, and took 23 wickets at an average of 34.26. Could turn out to be a goodie.
37 year old back up keeper, Geraint Jones, was not called upon this season and will not be re-signed.
Alex Blake certainly made his statement this season when finally given a decent opportunity. He scored 3 centuries and 2 half centuries in his eight appearances, averaging 55.10.
All-rounder Matt Coles wasn't selected for any appearances this season. Although he still has a year left on his contract, he could well be cut from the squad.

Pace Bowlers

Overseas signing, Vernon Philander, took 22 wickets in his five appearances for us, averaging 28.18. He was extremely useful with the bat, scoring 2 half centuries.
I was more impressed with our reserve overseas player, Mervin Matthew. In eight appearances for us, he took 45 wickets at an average of just 20.84. We will seriously look at re-signing him for next season.
Tim Murtagh took 74 wickets at 34.41. I was hoping for a better average. Let's see how he goes next season. He was useful with the bat in the lower order, averaging 27.91.
Charlie Shreck did not make any appearances this season. His continued good second team form suggests that he could still be useful if required.
Simon Cook was not called upon either. His contract is expiring and he will be leaving us.
We had big hopes for another of our signings, Andy Carter, but he failed to deliver, taking 36 wickets at an average of 40.47. Next season is a crucial one for him.
A lot of work is being put into developing Ben Kemp. He made three appearances this season, taking 10 wickets at an average of 36.30. He still concedes more runs than I'd like and this could ultimately count against him.
Adam Ball (another 20 year old) seems to do well in the shorter forms at present. In saying that he wasn't given an opportunity in the County Championship this season. The jury is still out on him.

Spin Bowlers

Jim Tredwell took 37 wickets at an average of 34.17. He was a useful lower order batsman, scoring 3 half centuries and averaging 32.76.
21 year old off spinner, Adam Riley, is another that we've invested time developing. He made two appearances this season, taking 7 wickets at a tidy average of 30.71.

[GrahamB]

2014 Season - Contract Negotiations

Retirements

Geraint Jones (keeper), Charlie Shreck (pace bowler) and Simon Cook (pace bowler)all announced their retirements.
This was welcome news, as none really figured in my plans.

Contract Renewals

Ben Birch (opening batsman), Sam Northeast (opening batsman), Mike Powell (batsman) and Adam Riley (spin bowler) all had contracts expire.
We re-signed Adam Riley and let the others go into the open market.

New Signings

In the first round of negotiations, we attempted to sign English international batsman Paul Kevan, pace bowler Graham Onions and opening batsman Ben Birch.
There were no standout keepers or opening batsmen available at this stage, so I thought I'd now try to re-sign Birch in case we didn't get any better prospects.
Onions and Birch happily signed, but Kevan wanted more and had a bigger offer on the table from champions Surrey.

In the second round, promising young batsman Dennis Egan became available. I decided to drop out of the race to sign Kevan in favour of signing Egan. This would make extra funds available to fill other spots in the squad.
Ben Brown (keeper) also became available, so we put an offer in for him, again spurning the opportunity to acquire the well performed Niall O'Brien.
Pace bowler Naqaash Tahir also became available, so we put in an offer for his services too.
All three were happy to join us.

I wanted to invest maximum funds in coaching, at least 40,000 in youth and 30,000 in physio.
That meant that I could either go for a big name overseas player or go for a lesser priced one so that I could sign one more domestic player as well.
I really liked the look of medium pacer Steffan Piolet, so I went after him and also tried to re-sign West Indian pace bowler Mervin Matthew.
Piolet pushed his price up a little, but I was happy to agree.
Matthew held out for a better deal than I was prepared to offer, but with no other clubs going after his services, was eventually happy to come back for another season.

That left only a reserve overseas player to acquire.
It came down to a choice between NZ pace bowler Micheal Bates and veteran Pakistani pace bowler Naved ul-Hasan.
Rightly or wrongly, I went after the Pakistani and he was very happy to agree terms.

[GrahamB]

KENT SQUAD 2014 (with FC averages)

Opening Batsmen

43.13 - Rob Key (34 yrs old, captain)
41.55 - Neil Naylor (21 yrs old)
38.75 - Ben Birch (21 yrs old)

Other Batsmen

45.12 - Dominic Cole (22 yrs old)
40.45 - Luke Procter (25 yrs old)
36.22 - Dennis Egan (23 yrs old)
33.54 - Fabian Cowdrey (21 yrs old)
31.14 - Alex Blake (25 yrs old)

Keepers

32.84 - Ben Brown (25 yrs old)
32.44 - Tim Ambrose (31 yrs old)

All-Rounders

33.03 (bat) 31.98 (RM) - Darren Stevens (37 yrs old)
32.11 (bat) 34.70 (RF) - Eric Beckett (23 yrs old)
20.41 (bat) 38.37 (RMF) - Matt Coles (23 yrs old)

Pace Bowlers

14.00 - Steffan Piolet (RM, 25 yrs old)
23.98 - Naved ul-Hasan (RFM, Overseas reserve, 36 yrs old, 23.93 bat)
24.55 - Mervin Matthew (RFM, Overseas, 28 yrs old)
28.52 - Graham Onions (RMF, 31 yrs old)
28.97 - Tim Murtagh (RFM, 32 yrs old, 23.25 bat)
29.95 - Naqaash Tahir (RFM, 30 yrs old)
36.15 - Andy Carter (RFM, 25 yrs old)
44.13 - Ben Kemp (RFM, 20 yrs old)
44.80 - Adam Ball (LFM, 21 yrs old)

Spin Bowlers

34.71 - James Tredwell (OS, 32 yrs old, 24.41 bat)
42.40 - Adam Riley (OS, 22 yrs old)

[GrahamB]

News

England took back the Ashes with a 5-0 clean sweep.
There were no ODI's, but England also won both T20's.

Bangladesh shocked the cricket world by taking out the T20 World Cup, beating England by 1 wicket in a close final.

[GrahamB]

OXFORD UNIVERSITY v KENT (Three Day Match 2014)

I rested many top players in order to try out those that wouldn't normally get many opportunities, plus some of the new signings.
And boy did I pay the price! How embarrassing!
The only positives were Ben Brown's first innings knock of 78no, plus the bowling of Ben Kemp and Adam Riley, both of whom bowled tightly to pick up a couple of wickets.

[GrahamB]

Our opening match in the County Championship is away to Gloucestershire.
With the pitch expected to favour the spinners, taking turn early, we've selected both Tredwell and Riley in the playing eleven.
There are two new faces in the side - batsman Dennis Egan and keeper Ben Brown.

[GrahamB]

GLOUCESTERSHIRE v KENT (County Championship D2 2014)

We won the toss and chose to bat first, figuring that with the pitch breaking up early, we could gain a good advantage.
Key and Naylor were going along nicely at 44/0 when the wheels started falling off.
Naylor went at 44/1, closely followed by Cole at 55/2.
Then Key (32) was run out after a crazy call, to leave us shell shocked at 56/3.
When Procter fell at 87/4, we were in big trouble.
Our blushes were spared somewhat by new signing, Dennis Egan, who held the innings together with his maiden first class century.
He got useful support from Tredwell (40) in a seventh wicket stand of 100, as we were eventually dismissed for 287 all out.
Will Gidman impressed with 2/43, while the surprisingly under used Ed Young picked up 2/15 with his slow left armers.

After Matthew and Murtagh grabbed an early wicket each to have the hosts at 47/2, Dent (56) and Thompson (54) settled things down with a stand of 90 for the third wicket.
Despite the best efforts of A.Gidman (38) and W.Gidman (53) after those two had gone, we'd clawed our way back onto level terms with Gloucestershire at 267/8.
Unfortunately, the tail wagged with Payne (41no) and Arif (37) helping their side to a first innings lead of 53 at 340 all out.
Tredwell made maximum use of the turning wicket to finish with a magnificent 7/96.

We made amends for our poor first innings with a much improved display in our second innings.
After Naylor was given out lbw at 54/1, Key (113) and Cole (133) put on 194 for the second wicket.
Once they were both back in the pavilion, Procter (38no) and Egan saw us through to a declaration at 339/3.

The home side needed 286 for victory in just over a session and a half, but once Murtagh claimed three early wickets and Procter a fourth to leave them reeling at 26/4, they were happy to try and shut up shot.
The Gidman brothers held things together though. Alex scored 34 and Will 57, as they ate up most of the remaining time.
There was late drama when Tredwell picked up his third wicket at 140/7, but we'd run out of time.

[GrahamB]

Our first home match in this season's County Champioship is against Glamorgan.

We made one change to our playing eleven, with Graham Onions replacing Adam Riley.

[GrahamB]

KENT v GLAMORGAN (County Championship D2 2014)

Glamorgan won the toss and decided to bat, but after their first wicket fell at 50/1, it was all downhill for the visitors.
Rees (40) and Allenby (34) were the top scorers as we rolled them for 177 all out.
Murtagh (5/50) and Matthew (2/46) were well complemented by the spin of Tredwell (3/39). Onions remained wicketless.

In stark contrast, our batsmen encountered no demons in the pitch as we ran up 434/2 declared.
Key (34) and Naylor (77) got the ball rolling, but it was big unbeaten centuries from Dominic Cole (148no) and Luke Procter (145no) that stole the show.
We decided to declare at this stage because a rain interruption had used up some of the time remaining and it was possible that there could be a further interruption.

Batting for a second time and trailing by a massive 257 runs, Glamorgan were in trouble at 169/4.
Hero of the day for the visitors was 24 year old Tom Fielding. This rising star had only played 8 first class matches, but already had 2 centuries and 6 half centuries to his name.
But this innings was his finest so far, as he stroked his way to 149no to save his team from losing. He had one life, early in his innings and it proved costly for us.
Du Toit (52) and Gow (44) were the other main contributors as Glamorgan finished early at 377/9, courtesy of another rain delay.
Murtagh again starred with the ball, taking 4/97.



The table to date:

[GrahamB]

News

Having beaten us previously, Oxford University claimed another scalp, with a 3 wicket victory over Division 1 side Nottinghamshire.

[GrahamB]

Bit of a needle match coming up next as Sussex and Mark Davies visit us for a County Championship match.

No changes to our playing eleven. Was tempted to leave Tredwell out in favour of another seamer, but how can you leave him out when he's taken 13 wickets this season so far at 15.46?
Procter is a useful fourth seamer anyway.

[KGKOOLKAT777]

KENT v GLAMORGAN (County Championship D2 2014)

Glamorgan won the toss and decided to bat, but after their first wicket fell at 50/1, it was all downhill for the visitors.
Rees (40) and Allenby (34) were the top scorers as we rolled them for 177 all out.
Murtagh (5/50) and Matthew (2/46) were well complemented by the spin of Tredwell (3/39). Onions remained wicketless.

In stark contrast, our batsmen encountered no demons in the pitch as we ran up 434/2 declared.
Key (34) and Naylor (77) got the ball rolling, but it was big unbeaten centuries from Dominic Cole (148no) and Luke Procter (145no) that stole the show.
We decided to declare at this stage because a rain interruption had used up some of the time remaining and it was possible that there could be a further interruption.

Batting for a second time and trailing by a massive 257 runs, Glamorgan were in trouble at 169/4.
Hero of the day for the visitors was 24 year old Tom Fielding. This rising star had only played 8 first class matches, but already had 2 centuries and 6 half centuries to his name.
But this innings was his finest so far, as he stroked his way to 149no to save his team from losing. He had one life, early in his innings and it proved costly for us.
Du Toit (52) and Gow (44) were the other main contributors as Glamorgan finished early at 377/9, courtesy of another rain delay.
Murtagh again starred with the ball, taking 4/97.



The table to date:

Really good job. I really enjoy following your story. Unlucky not getting the wins but with the way you are playing the wins will come.

[GrahamB]

Really good job. I really enjoy following your story. Unlucky not getting the wins but with the way you are playing the wins will come.

Thanks. I feel that I have a pretty good all-round squad now.