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Seeing if I can do better with a Kent story

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  • Seeing if I can do better with a Kent story

    I've been reading a few of the stories posted on here and seen that people seem to be struggling with playing as Kent, so I thought I'd give it a try.

    My first task as captain was to take care of new signings, of which I made three. I signed Neil Saker (the former Surrey pace bowler), Mark Bowen (young opener with a 2nd team average of 55.49) and the Indian Captain MS Dhoni as my reserve overseas player.

    I lost Azhar Mahmood and MS Dhoni to the IPL but otherwise was ready for my first game in charge, away to Yorkshire in the County Championship.

  • #2
    My first team selection consisted of:
    D Bell-Drummond, S Northeast, R Key (C), M Powell, B Nash, B Harmison, G Jones(wk), A Shaw, J Tredwell, M Davies, C Shreck.

    We were put into bat and the innings started well with the two young openers but then the innings collapsed and only Ben Harmison put up any resistance. Tredwell and Shreck lead the reply with the ball and we picked up a handy 1st innings lead. The 2nd innings was marred by an injury to Brendan Nash, before Tredwell and Shreck again worked their way through the Yorkshire line up to ensure a close victory from our first game.

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    • #3
      My second game in charge was away to Northamptonshire in the County Championship.
      I was forced to make 2 changes to my starting 11 due to injury, those starting this game were:
      D Bell-Drummond, S Northeast, R Key(c), M Powell, M Bowen, B Harmison, G Jones(wk), J Tredwell, M Davies, N Saker, A Shaw.

      We won the toss and chose to bat first. Rob Key lead the way with a captains century and Mark Bowen almost completed a maiden hundred on debut, as we amassed a handy first innings total. James Tredwell was again the chief destroyer with the bowl as our opponents narrowly avoided the follow-on. During the second innings we went in search of quick runs which lead to some batsmen sacrificing themselves but a quick fire 100 from Mike Powell gave us a handy total to bowl at. Our new signing Nick Saker then lead the charge in the second innings as we completed a comfortable victory.

      This season has started off quite well, but can it last??

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      • #4
        My third match in charge was at home to Gloucestershire, looking at the lack of a quality spinner in their squad and the form of James Tredwell I instructed our groundsmen to prepare a turning pitch.

        I was unhappy with the early season form of Harmison and Shaw, so I dropped them back to the second team to find some form, replacing them with Darren Stevens, and Charlie Shreck who has returned from injury. Starting 11 is:
        D Bell-Drummond, S Northeast, R Key(c), M Powell, M Bowen, G Jones(wk), D Stevens, J Tredwell, M Davies, N Saker, C Shreck.

        We lost the toss and were put into bat, which was convenient as that was what I was planning to do anyway. Powell, Jones and Stevens picked up half centuries as we amassed a decent first innings score. Gloucestershire got to within 26 of our first innings total but pleasingly James Tredwell started to find some turn late in the innings on his way to his 4th 5wicket haul of the season. Northeast, Bowen and Jones picked up half centuries in the second innings as we were able to make a strong decleration. The choice to prepare a spinning pitch paid off as Tredwell was able to pick up 7 wickets on the last day to pick up our third win.

        Our success at the moment seems to be largely down to James Tredwell so I am fearful that he may get injured, picked by England or lose form at any moment.

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        Last edited by soakingwetkiwi; 03-27-2013, 12:21 PM.

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        • #5
          Next match is at home to Yorkshire, again the groundsman was asked to prepare a spinners pitch. One change to the starting 11 for this match, Daniel Bell-Drummond has been dropped due to his poor form, being replaced by Fabian Cowdrey which has resulted in a change to the batting line up. Team is: S Northeast, M Bowen, R Key(c), M Powell, G Jones(wk), D Stevens, F Cowdrey, J Tredwell, M Davies, N Saker, C Shreck.

          Yorkshire won the toss and batted, amassing a huge total of 435, with the wickets spread between the four bowlers. Rob Key lead the reply with his 2nd century of the season but our total of 344 still left us far behind. Yorkshire declared their second innings with 30 minutes to go til lunch leaving us with a chase of 292 in just over two sessions. Sam Northeast got us off to a good start with a quick fire half century, after losing a few wickets we started playing for the draw but Mike Powell and Darren Stevens lifted the run rate giving us hope for a draw, but after another flurry of wickets we dug in and held out for the draw.

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          • #6
            I find Kent a nightmare to play with! This year (2013) they should be terrible as they have no money and no overseas player listed in their squad on cricinfo.com

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            • #7
              My next match was an university match against Oxford UCCE. I decided to use this match as an opportunity to rest some of my first team players and give some of the second teamers a game. My starting 11 was: D Bell-Drummond, C Piesley, F Cowdrey, A Blake, S Northeast, S Billings(wk), M Coles, A Riley, M Davies, B Kemp, S Cook(c).

              We managed to pick up a reasonably comfortable win, some good innings from Bell-Drummond, Piesley, Blake, Coles and Binnings, and some good bowling from Riley, Cook, Kemp and Davies.

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              • #8
                I started a Kent save, finish 7th in div 2 in country champ, last in 40 overs but somehow got to fluke semi of t20. Shreck and Mahmood retired and released the dead wood. Somehow Key got England contract even though he hadnt played for England and not picked for NZ home test series. Batting was not bad (Key, Nash and Powell especially) but only bowlers that were effective were Davies and Tredwell.

                Managed to get Hales, Williey and J Overton as new signings and my team rating went from just over 2 stars to 3 and 1/2. Currently 1st in div 2 county champ with 5 wins 1 draw(won most of the tosses which seems to have a big impact). Only won 1 and lost 2 in 40 overs game.

                Coles has been performing great in 2nd season(aweful in 1st) especially with the bat. Hales was England regular in 1st season dont know why he wasnt given a contract. Williey has been good as well(shame he wont have a ponytail in 2013). Overton not been good so dropped him, but he is only 19.
                Last edited by LastWicket; 04-21-2013, 03:25 AM.

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