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Matt Walker does not want Kent to 'drift' through Royal London One-Day Cup

Matt Walker will not be afraid making changes to his Kent side after losing their opening two matches of the Royal London One-Day Cup.

The Spitfires have three tough games in the space of five days this week and will be more than halfway through the competition by the end of those games.

They start with their first home match at Canterbury against Glamorgan on Friday, a visit to Hampshire on Sunday and back to The Spitfire Ground St Lawrence on Tuesday to play Somerset.

Matt Walker. Picture: Andy Jones.
Matt Walker. Picture: Andy Jones.

Head coach Walker said: “We could quite possibly make some changes. This competition is so short and before you know it you are halfway through.

“I don’t want us to just drift through this competition and you are just waiting for people to perform. I don’t think we can afford to do that.

“There are players not playing that probably deserve an opportunity that have missed out in the first two games. It’s important we give people the opportunity who haven’t so far.”

Kent will not want a repeat of last year’s competition where they won just one of their eight matches.

The batting has been identified as an area of improvement with only one player making scores in the games against Sussex and Middlesex.

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Skipper Joe Denly has also had a tough time getting out for nothing in both games.

Walker said: “It’s pretty straightforward we aren’t scoring enough runs in the middle. We will work hard to get back to what we know we can do. It needs us to get that one win under the belt and hopefully that confidence will start to grow.

“We have a few days to think about this and practice and focus on the next game. Hopefully people will find a bit of form in practice and take that forward to the next game.

“You always want your big players to step up. Joe is disappointed as he hasn’t contributed anything with the bat so far but we know what a good player he is.”

The South group is packed with strong One-Day teams but Walker believes getting that first win will turn things around for the side.

Joe Denly
Joe Denly

He added: “They are all big games and they are all big sides. Long gone are the days when you are waiting for a poor side in the competition to come along so you can turn it around. It’s not the case as every side has match winners throughout.

“It’s such a strong group and you have to play well to earn the right to win games of cricket.

“Friday is the next big game and we have to make sure we are on it.

“It can soon turn around and that’s the good thing about this competition. You get one win and all of a sudden things can change dramatically for you.”

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