Eigtheen year old wicketkeeper Ryan Davies is loving every minute of his time playing with the Kent Cricket first eleven.

The England Under 19 international and Sandwich gloveman has stepped up to first team duty after Sam Billings was called up for One Day International duty with England.

After wintering with the England Under 19s in Australia and starting the season with Kent’s 2nd XI, Davies has suddenly been thrust into the limelight in the past few weeks, making his County Championship debut against Derbyshire and then facing Hampshire in the Natwest T20 Blast at Canterbury last Friday night.

Set to face Essex in the T20 at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence tonight, Davies told Kent Sports News how he was enjoying every bit of being involved at the highest level of the county game:

“For me, it has been one of best experiences ever. I remember coming along to watch Kent as a fan and now I have been out in the middle with fans cheering me on and supporting me.”

“It all still seems a bit surreal, but I’m glad I have had the opportunity.”

“I set myself the goal at the start of the year to scrape into the Under 19s squad and now I’ve been to Australia and made my first class debut.”

“If someone would have said to be at the start of the season I would be making my debut, I would have said not a chance.”

“It’s a credit to Sam that he’s done so well to get selected by England and that’s given me the opportunity.”

Having bagged a pair in his Championship debut, Davies took two crucial catches in Friday night’s Natwest T20 Blast game against Hampshire in front of a bumper crowd and he admits it’s a long way different from playing Second XI cricket:

“It was by far the biggest crowd I have played in front of and I was quite proud of myself to stay so switched on and stay mentally focussed on what was going on.”

“Having made my debut against Derbyshire was surreal, but playing in front of a big Kent crowd was a real honour.”

“I was really pleased with my second catch off Matt Coles in this last T20 game. The wicket was a little uneven and I wasn’t 100% certain where to stand, but I was obviously in the right place!”

Davies is just one of a number of young talents coming through the Kent system and he admits he couldn’t have done it without the support network behind him:

“My club Sandwich have been absolutely brilliant and the guys have been great. It’s not just been from Sandwich, it’s also been from clubs that I have played against.”

“I’m very grateful for that support and without it, I wouldn’t feel quite so confident. It’s great to know people are behind you and backing you every step of the way.”

“I’m going to make the most of this opportunity whilst I can, learn as much as possible from the guys whilst I am playing with them and take that back with me to the second team.”

The wicketkeeper has a long line of talented gloveman in which to follow on from at Kent and he is trying to use their experience to inspire him in the future:

“The goal is to become a legend like some of the names that have been here and I have already learnt a lot from the likes of Sam Billings, Geraint Jones and of course Simon Willis.”

“Wilco has been great with me throughout my time at the Academy and it was a shock getting taken on at thirteen by Phil Relf.”

“I think Wilco has pushed me to where I am now and I needed to be pushed. Occassionally I got a fraction lazy, but he has pushed me every step of the way.”

“Bilbo laughed at him when he said England was achievable last year and he has said the same thing to me, so that’s a real positive,”

“Going to the Canterbury Institute of Sport helped me a lot and gave me a great opportunity to play my cricket and combine it with my school work.”

“Sandwich Tech helped me a lot too, so I can’t thank everyone enough for all the support they have shown me over the years.”

Davies will have the gloves on once again tonight as the Kent Spitfires face Essex Eagles in the Natwest T20 Blast at Canterbury with play starting at 6:30pm.