Young Kent quick Ivan Thomas has been working on his catching ahead of the four-day showdown with Australia starting today (Thursday) at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.

He doesn’t want to make the same mistake he did when he last played against Australian vice-captain Steve Smith.

Thomas was playing for Blackheath 2nds against Sevenoaks 2nds in a Kent League match at the Vine in 2007 and dropped Smith when he had scored just four.

The young New South Welshman went on to punish Thomas for that mistake, scoring a match-winning 185.

And it’s something Thomas has never forgotten.

“I still have nightmares,” he joked.

“I was fielding just behind square leg and it came straight at me but I spilt it – and the rest is history.

“Hopefully, I will get a chance to redeem myself if we both play in this game because I couldn’t bear to think about it happening again.”

As for his hopes of playing against the world champions, Thomas said: “We’ve played a lot of cricket of late but there is such a buzz around the place about this game.

“We all want to play because it’s not every day you get to play against the best.”