Chief Executive Jamie Clifford has told KSN contract talks continue between Kent Cricket and some of their more senior pros.

The likes of Geraint Jones, Darren Stevens and James Tredwell will be out of contract at the end of this season and could be free to leave the county to join another side, but that may not have to be the case.

The trio have all stated their desire to stay with Kent in recent months and Clifford revealed talks are ongoing with the players:

“Talks are progressing with all of them. I have a policy of not talking about how they are going, one way or the other. The players deserve that we go through that process in private.”

“It’s an employment matter and their futures are on the line, so I tend not to talk much about where we’ve got to. All I will say is that there are ongoing discussions and I’m positive that they’ll come out in the right place for Kent Cricket.”

“I think we have a very clear plan of what we’re trying to achieve. Don’t read anything into that, as there is a process that we need to work through and I will stick to my policy of not talking publicly with where we are with it and what that involves.

“As soon as there is something to tell, we’ll announce it.”

One thing that is a lot clearer, is the likelyhood of Kent bringing in a second overseas signing for the Twenty 20 competition, with Clifford telling KSN that Kent will most likely be sticking with what they’ve got:

“It’s not through a lack of trying. I think we’ve looked all over the world for a suitable import at the right price and with the right skills.”

“That perfect package doesn’t seem to exist and therefore we’ve got a squad who we will back to do well. It’s not always the answer to recruit and bring in from the outside.”

“I am sure the guys will approach it like they’ve done with all their cricket this year, which is to work hard and have a gameplan about how they’re going to go about winning games. Once they get going, I don’t think they’ll be looking around asking where’s the overseas superstar.”

Despite not having a second overseas signing, Clifford is of the belief the Kent squad is more than capable of competing against the best teams in the competition:

“In many ways, we’ve got superstars with Azhar having come back from the IPL and then we’ve got the likes of Darren Stevens who is one of the best Twenty 20 performers.”

“Barring a horrible blip last year at Grace Road against Leicestershire in the Quarter Final, we’d have been at the Finals Day.”

“We’ve been at plenty of Finals Days since 2007 when we won it, so there is experience within the squad. I don’t think anybody is to perturbed by the overseas factor, but we will see how it pans out.”

“I think it is what it is and other counties have shown that it’s not that straight forward recruiting and you can end up expecting to bring in this talent and then it all goes wrong, so in a way we haven’t got any of those dramas and we are where we are.”

“Last year we announced Wahab Riaz and Charl Langeveldt at Tunbridge Wells week, but there’s no chance of a surprise announcement in the offing this year.”

There are clear positives to be taken with just one overseas signing, with the likes of Sam Billings, Sam Northeast and Adam Ball likely to be competing for a place in the T20 side.

The Kent Spitfires begin their T20 campaign against the Sussex Sharks at Tunbridge Wells on Tuesday 12th June with play scheduled to start at 5:30pm.