Beyond the Boundary: Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens writes exclusively for the KM Group
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What a thrill it was for me to take the wicket of Shiv
Chanderpaul against Lancashire. I had only said last week how
important it was for us to get him early.
When Chanderpaul came in I said to the umpire (Tim Robinson)
that I wanted this one in my pocket.
He smiled and made a little comment and then – bang – the next
ball he’d gone. I had the biggest grin. It really was an unreal
situation.
To me he is still one of the best batters in the world so it was
an absolute treat to have got him. It’s right up there among the
best wickets I have ever taken.
It was just a good ball, I put it in the right area. We’d talked
about where we needed to put it and I did exactly that and he came
forward and nicked it behind.
I was told, as well, that I had got three wicket maidens, which
is pretty special – it was just a shame about the result.
There was enough in the pitch at that stage, we bowled OK, but
they bowled well in the second innings when the pitch was a bit
more uneven.
Glen Chapple was outstanding. He’s probably the toughest bowler
I’ve ever faced and I have faced Muralitharan and others. Chapple
is always on you, you never get a minute and you never know what’s
coming. It’s a challenge.
We were happy to bounce back so quickly on Sunday. There was a
stage when we thought we were not going to get to play at all. A
lot of people had to be called back pretty quickly.
In situations like that you often get boys who go off to the gym
on the other side of town and maybe grab a coffee on the way
back.
I was in the indoor school hitting some balls with Dewald Nel
when we came out and had a look.
It still looked wet but then pretty quickly the sun came out and
we were good to go.
It was good to beat a team like Notts, even if it is never ideal
playing a short game. You just have to play as hard and aggressive
as you can.
It’s good fun batting with Azhar Mahmood. He’s an old head with
experience and he is a calming and relaxing presence out there,
even when it’s tense. He sets me little challenges.
In the t20 game against Essex, he told me to go out and hit the
20 we needed off an over, which I did, and the other day he said we
should aim for 120 by the end of the penultimate over – I think we
got to 130.
We only got five off the last over because Ryan Sidebottom
bowled brilliantly, the best I’ve faced at the death. We had
nowhere to go with him.
It is tough, what’s going on at the club off the pitch but we
will fight hard to stay up in Division 1. In the Pro 40, if we can
win our last three games – which I have no doubt that we can – then
who knows what we can achieve.
I have been playing a bit of golf this week – first the Hoppers
Golf Day at Faversham on Monday, when my team finished second and
then Ashley Giles’ Celebrity Golf Day to benefit Cure Leukaemia at
the Forest of Arden club in Warwickshire.
Thursday, August 26 2010
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