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Watch Rob Key's
post-match press conference

by Graham Jones

Captain Rob Key spoke of his frustration after Kent Spitfires
failed to perform on the big occasion in their Twenty20 Cup
semi-final defeat to Somerset on Saturday.

Having made a respectable total of 145-5 from their 20 overs at
Edgbaston, Kent put in a below-par bowling display and ended up
suffering a seven-wicket defeat.

Key said: "The most disappointing thing is that on the big day
we played poorly. You don’t mind getting beaten when like last year
Owais Shah played a fantastic knock and we nearly chased down an
over-par score. You take that on the chin - but when you play
rubbish you’re pretty disappointed about it.

"You have got to be right on the money from the start but we
weren’t and they got 16 or 17 off their first over. I thought 145
was a decent score but when someone (Marcus Trescothick) gets
50-odd off 30-odd balls you are always struggling.

"Marcus is one of the best one-day cricketers in the world and
England’s finest one-day batsman for a while. He’s a fantastic
player and unfortunately he was good and we weren’t.

"It was not an easy wicket to bat on. They bowled full and
straight and we bowled full and wide at the start, and from then
you are always clawing it back."

Key admitted Kent missed all-rounder Ryan McLaren who was ruled
out through injury.

He said: "On big occasions he is always the one who steps up
more than anyone else. Two years ago in the finals day he almost
brought us back into the game with his fielding alone, and then in
the final he got a hat-trick. I think he would have been a good
bowler on that deck."

The Kent skipper did not feel their gruelling schedule in the
lead up to the game was to blame.

“We had guys who hadn’t played (in all those
games),” he said. “Azhar Mahmood got a hundred in the second team
and he was pretty fresh.

“Wayne Parnell hadn’t played, while Simon Cook
has bowled a lot and bowled really well for us. James Tredwell has
bowled a lot, but it is great to just be bowling and bowling if you
are a spinner. The batsmen have been in decent form so I don’t
think it had any bearing on it.

“We just didn’t perform and it is similar to
the Friends Provident final last year because on the big day we
just didn’t step up.”