Beyond the Boundary: Kent's Darren Stevens writes exclusively for the KM Group
Comments |
Three championship hundreds by
the end of May is something I have never done in my career
before.
I went out against Durham on Tuesday
morning on 99 and had a couple of texts before the start of play
wishing me well.
We were in trouble at 142-6 when I
went in just before tea and I played and missed at the first four
balls. The wicket was still doing a bit but I stuck to my game plan
and took a couple of risks.
They started to bowl too aggressively
which played into my hands. Most of my innings this season have
been batting with the tail and I’ll always looked to be aggressive
in those situations.
We were in good spirits at close of
play, having got to 305-8 after getting Durham out for 121 but I
can tell you we would also have batted had we won the toss.
It looked a good pitch, white in
colour but changed to green when the ball pitched. We bowled too
short and wide in the first hour but once Ammy and Makhaya hit
their straps, they did well.
We say goodbye to Makhaya next week
and were saying at dinner the other night it’s a shame he’s going
just when he hitting form for us. With a first five-for for us
against Durham at Canterbury last week and four more at Riverside,
he has been outstanding for us, adjusting to life in county cricket
well.
I think he will play his last game
against Scotland on Monday when we hope to follow up on our first
win of the season. We will miss him. He is still a high class
player and hopefully we might see him back at Kent again.
Ammy also bowled lovely on Monday. He
figured out it wasn’t a quick pitch, hit good areas and was as good
as I have seen him for a long time.
Two hours after finishing the game
against Durham last week the boys were on the coach going to
Edinburgh, with an overnight stop in Wetherby.
The Professional Cricketers’
Association have already started consulting players about the ECB
plans to restructure county cricket next season. They say around 80
per cent of those surveyed believe the schedule this year is worse
than last season, despite a reduction from four competitions to
three, the feedback saying the increased amount of travelling is
not helping the problems.
Personally, I think the programme is
ridiculous. We all love the game and playing it and enjoy visiting
different towns and staying in different hotels. We can’t remember,
though, when we last had a training session and there has been no
time so far to practice for Twenty20.
We started the season with a four day
match against Nottinghamshire at Trent
Bridge, only to have to travel back there two weeks later and stay
overnight for a one-day game.
Then in August, – the middle of the
summer – we only play eight or nine days cricket.
I know it’s all done on computer but a
lot of thought is still needed.
Thursday, May 27 2010
The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.