Rob Key says he is excited by future after handing over Kent captaincy
by Alex Hoad
Rob Key hopes removing the burden
of the Kent captaincy will help him return to being one of the most
prolific run-scorers in county cricket.
Key was visibly relaxed after
passing the baton on to James Tredwell on Monday and immediately
targeted a return to the prolific form which proceeded his
seven-year tenure as captain.
The 33-year-old admitted the
captaincy had probably hindered his chances of adding to his 15
Test and five ODI appearances for England but revealed he had not
given up hope of a Test recall.
He said: "I took the job on because
I wanted to enhance my England chances. At times it did – at one
stage people were talking about me as a possible England captain –
but one disappointment is I was never really able to play as well
as I was before I became captain.
"With a bit of luck, good weather
and good pitches, hopefully I can go back to being one of the top
run-scorers in the
country.
"I should be going on to maximise
my experience now.
"I’ll never give up on (a Test
recall) but it might be a long shot."
Key revealed he was excited about
his future and remained passionate about Kent cricket but was
relieved to be stepping down. He said: "At the end of the summer
I’d had enough really and I was at the point where I wanted to
concentrate on my own game."
Key backed Tredwell to succeed in
the role and said: "Now’s not a bad time to be handing it over.
Jimmy’s been in the job a year and is clear about the way he wants
to go.
"Right from the start I realised he
had a good cricket brain. He will get the important decisions right
more often than not."
Key revealed one of his biggest regrets as captain was his
handling of the departure of close friend Matt Walker in 2008,
adding: "That was hard to deal with and I could have done
better."
Picture: Barry Goodwin
21/11/12
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