Kent
Acknowledging the support
Kent's season may have been disappointing on paper but there were positive signs that the club is becoming more inclusive
Ben Howarth
29-Sep-2013
The raw facts are that Kent finished seventh in Division Two of the Championship and did not challenge in limited-overs cricket. It would be easy, in these circumstances, for my last blog of the season to lambast the club's management and demand wholesale change. But - fun as that would be - I intend to resist. In fact, I feel happier as a Kent supporter than I used to.
Canterbury feels more welcoming these days - in the past, one felt the 'establishment' saw spectators as an unwelcome side effect of running a cricket club. In the dark days (the 1990s), you were either a member (primarily there for the Pavilion bar and the lending library) or an intruder, who must not expect either audible tannoy announcements or shelter from the rain.
It is interesting that Cricinfo chose to call these blogs a "supporters' network" - it feels as if Kent have only very recently acknowledged the concept of supporting the team. I was recently encouraged to complete a detailed survey. I don't remember ever being asked my opinion before. Crucially, this included - traditionalist heresy! - non-members. At last, the club may finally 'get it'.
Full postCanterbury Festival peps up Kent
The weather wasn't quite as heartening but the Kent administrators deserve praise for reinvigorating the country's oldest cricket week
Ben Howarth
27-Aug-2013
The storm clouds gathered over the Spitfire St Lawrence for the 168th Canterbury Festival week, as Kent spent the fourth day stuck in the Pavilion, hoping in vain that the rain would break long enough for them to take the one remaining Gloucestershire wicket needed to secure victory.
Although a result could not quite be reached, Michael Klinger's sporting declaration made for the second thriller between these two sides this season. Yet, on the quiet, Kent's administrators deserve a pat on the back for reinvigorating the country's oldest cricket week. Of course, it will never live up to its pre-war idyll as a key date on London's social calendar, but a balance has been struck between marking Kent's heritage and enjoying its present.
However, more disappointing than the rain were the metaphorical storm clouds which have gathered over Canterbury. At the fan's forum, chairman of cricket, Graham Johnson, confirmed that Matt Coles had refused a new contract. He has been linked with Derbyshire. Not so long ago, Derbyshire picked up our rejects (such as wayward fast bowler Simon Cusden in 2006). Now, they are a preferred destination for our best prospect. The words 'feeder club' are being bandied around.
Full postLessons from Kent departures past
Kent have paid the price for releasing talented players before - let's hope they don't make that mistake with Ben Harmison and Calum Haggett
Ben Howarth
26-Jul-2013
During Kent's recent Championship draw against Hampshire, Michael Carberry took understandable delight in waving his bat at the Kent committee rooms after making a patient century. This was his revenge on a county that had, in Carberry's words, "messed me about" during three unhappy years in Canterbury.
As Kent seek to rebuild their side, Carberry provides a cautionary tale. His performances for Kent were good (he averaged 37.75), but he shuffled around the batting order as Rob Key and Ed Smith floated in and out of the England side. In his last season, Kent simply gave up on him - he didn't play a single Championship game.
Another player Kent members wish we could have back is David Masters. Described by former captain Matthew Fleming as someone who would "run through burning coals to play for Kent", Masters lacks pace but has willed himself to become one of the meanest bowlers on the county circuit with Essex.
Full postHistory repeating for Kent keepers?
Geraint Jones has been left out of Kent's Twenty20 in favour of Sam Billings, who must now use the chance to fulfil the long-held 'promising' tag
Ben Howarth
02-Jul-2013
At the halfway point of the season, things do not look especially rosy in Canterbury. Winless in the Championship, effectively out of contention in the YB40 and defeated in our first two Twenty20 games.
Yet, there have been glimmers of hope - two encouraging rearguards in recent Championship matches; steady progress from youngsters Adam Riley, Callum Haggett and Daniel Bell-Drummond and some of the best batting I have ever seen from Sam Northeast and Darren Stevens to chase down a record 337 to beat Sussex in the YB40. Stevens equalled Mark Ealham's record of a 44-ball century (though, being superstitious, I'm worried that Ealham hit his 44-baller in 1995, the last time we finished bottom of the Championship).
Such an incredible win made me hope for more from the Friends Life t20, especially with Vernon Philander in town. He has now played six T20 games in 2013, here and for his South African franchise, and lost all of them, which might give a clue why South Africa don't play him in their limited-overs side. Yet, 4 for 8 in his first spell at Canterbury suggested they are missing a trick.
Full postKent faithful tested early
Two draws and a defeat have got the members muttering but Kent haven't suddenly become a rubbish team overnight
Sarah Ansell
07-May-2013
The hashtag #keepthefaith is one my Kent supporting friends and I have often appended to our tweets in recent years and, only a few days into May, there are fears it might come in for some hefty use over the summer. Tipped by many pre-season as promotion candidates, it is all feeling a tad 2011 at the moment. Following a largely injury free 2012, just three matches in to this campaign key players Darren Stevens and Mike Powell are already scrapping over first dibs on the physio's treatment table.
To add to the impending sense of doom, day three of our long-awaited first home match - a well attended and gloriously sunny day at Canterbury - saw the ignominious return of that old pest, the batting collapse. It's fair to say the members are muttering.
You have to smile, though. Abiding - at times almost reluctant - love mixed with crushed hopes and disappointing anticlimax provides great fodder for inspiring a good old moan in the stands. If you believed all you heard, you'd be forgiven for thinking the players can't be bothered. You might assume they don't care, forget they are inherently competitive, and think they shrug off losing as easily as they change their socks. But there, as they say, goes a flying pig. Losing inside three days hurts and professional sportsmen know that better than anyone. To suggest players aren't trying is insulting tosh.
Full postBlend of youth and experience key
Kent's 2013 prospects previewed by the ESPNcricinfo Supporters' Network
Sarah Ansell
31-Mar-2013
As much as last season saw Kent go from dead certs to almost rans, it marked a significant improvement on the previous campaign and I'm very optimistic that further progress will be made in 2013. The priority for this year has to be promotion back to Division One of the County Championship.
Lots will rest on the shoulders of new captain, James Tredwell, who has a tough act to follow as Rob Key's successor. After seven years at the helm Key stepped aside in the autumn, citing burnout and the belief that he had taken the side as far as he could. Tredwell's more reserved persona and recent England experience should provide a fresh approach and an injection of new ideas.
Little has changed at Canterbury during the long winter months, other than the management and support staff finally taking up residency in their smart new offices - now rather handily situated for nipping into Sainsbury's when tea-bag stocks are depleted!
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