Seam bowler Mitchell Claydon is looking forward to leading the Kent attack once again and wants to end his career with the club.

The 31 year old capped his first full season in a Kent shirt with over fifty County Championship wickets having signed last winter from Durham after a loan spell in 2013.

Australian born Claydon showed how integral he is to the Kent side going forward by taking nine wickets in the final game of the season against Gloucestershire at Canterbury, one the side were to go on and eventually lose.

With overseas signing Doug Bollinger having left in August, Claydon stepped into the role of senior bowler with relative ease and his performances seemed to get better as the season wore on.

Just days after the end of season awards last weekend, Claydon was to return home to Australia to see his family, but admitted before he left that he’d enjoyed the past twelve months with Kent:

“To walk away from here with 83 wickets in all forms of cricket is something that I could have only dreamed of. I think my best year with Durham only saw me get 65 wickets.”

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my year, I have thoroughly enjoyed my role of being a senior bowler and moving forward we have got some really good young lads that have grown up this year and I think in the next few years we will be fighting for trophies in all forms of cricket.”

“When Dougie (Bollinger) was here and missed a few games with injury, I seemed to do better as I had that more responsibility. I’m sure I also got a lot more wickets in the last half of the season than the first.”

“I thought I bowled very well in the first half of the season without a lot of luck and in the second half everything was nicked and everything was caught.”

“I finished with 55 wickets and bowled about 510 overs which is something I thought I’d never get that close in two or three seasons.”

Claydon, along with the likes of Darren Stevens have shown that age is no barrier and closing in on his 32nd birthday, the former Durham man believes he has got better in recent years:

“I’m a massive believer that the older you get, the easier it gets as you know what you’ve got to do. When you’re young, you think you can get away with things and you make some silly decisions, but the older you get you know you have got to be a little less stupid and maybe look after yourself a little bit more.”

“If it wasn’t for the tablets off the physio in the morning, you probably wouldn’t get through it! All cricketers talk about the little pink pill and it’s the best thing!”

Having spent the past year at Canterbury, Claydon will now play some cricket down in Australia over the winter months, but is looking forward to his return to play for Kent next season:

“I’ve got a year left on my contract and I’ve always said I’d like to play cricket as long as I could. I didn’t start until late so I appreciate every year that I get to do it.”

“I still think I have got five or six good years left in me. I never thought I’d ever leave Durham, so to get another opportunity down at Kent has been great and I’d be more than happy to stay for the remainder of my career.”

“Hopefully I can lead the attack like I have this year for the next five or six years.”

One thing that has impressed Claydon this year has been the emergence of some of the younger members of the Kent squad and he’s looking forward to returning in the spring and helping some of the talented young guys improve their game:

“I feel for David Griffiths as he has had a tough year with injury, but he came back well in the last game on a flat wicket. We’ve got some really great young blokes and with us senior players, we have got a great mix.”

“Even though we lost in the semi-final of the One Day Cup, just missed out on a Quarter Final place in the Twenty 20 and finished mid table in four day cricket, I think next year everyone will have grown up and the way we played the back half of the season, if we can take that confidence into next season, that will be a massive bonus for us.”

“All of the young guys are still finding their feet and it takes a while, but hopefully we can hit the ground running next year and really challenge in all forms of cricket.”

Picture supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com