Kent all-rounder Ben Harmison paid tribute to teammate Rob Key after the pair put on an important partnership on day two against Lancashire.

Joining Key at the crease with the score at 7-3, Harmison made 59 in a partnership of 158, as former captain Key hit 134, helping Kent to a first innings total of 260.

Speaking at the close of play, Harmison said: “It was good. I didn’t realise it was 7-3 when I went in, to be honest. I was just chilling in the changing room and I heard a couple of cheers. You’ve just got to be as calm as you can and not think about the score. I just did what I have done all year and take 20 balls to try and get in and see what’s happening, and then kick on. It’s always good to have someone who’s got 51 hundreds at the other end.”

The former Durham man said that he and Key had thrived off the tough situation they found themselves in, and looked to use it to their advantage. “When you get in, it doesn’t matter if it’s 100-0 or 7-3, you’ve just got to stick to whatever you know best. It can be an advantage batting at 7-3 because you can bat all day if you want and not have to score quickly.

“He [Key] is good [to bat with]. He loves it when it’s like that – he’d rather it was nipping around like that because it gets the best out of him, so that competitive edge that he’s got and that competition that he loves gets the best out of him, which obviously showed today. You wouldn’t have thought it was a 7-3 pitch when he got 140.

“We put on about 160, and Jimmy’s just said “well done” upstairs, so that’s quite nice.”

Though Lancashire closed the second day 99 runs ahead and with all ten wickets still in hand, Harmison remained confident that Kent could remain competitive in the match, despite opening bowling pair Mark Davies and Matt Hunn both struggling with injuries at the close of play.

“It’s a tricky pitch to bat on”, he said. “The ball is nipping around. You’ve just got to accept what it is and put it out of your mind. If you get a good ball, you get a good ball. I think us being two bowlers down is not helping, but hopefully the physio will sort them out for tomorrow and we’ll come back and take a few wickets and then when we eventually bat again, we’ve just got to knuckle down like we have done all year and whatever score it is, we’ve just got to try and knock it off.”

“Everyone’s fresh tomorrow morning. We’ll get a decent warm-up into the system and hopefully we’ll have Mark [Davies] and Matt [Hunn] opening the bowling, and with the rest of the lads flying in after that. There’ll be a little bit of difference – hopefully their batters will be a bit tired or have a few tonight! The lads will look forward to it – it’s a good challenge and that’s why we play.”

Harmison has found form at Kent this season, after struggling in his opening year at the county in 2013, averaging 47 with the bat so far in 2013.

“Nothing’s changed”, he said. “I think it helped getting a score early on [in the season], which I did, I’ve got a bit of confidence. I’ve found a system that works and I’m trying to run with it, and I’m trying to kick on from here. It’s nice [to be averaging 47]. I like better than coming in when its 300-3. It’s better to have a little bit of a scrap out there I think. Hopefully next year I’ll continue and get some wickets as well.”

The bowling side of things is something that Harmison is keen to build on, having five six, wicketless overs during the final session of the second day.

“I just want to bowl, to be honest. I’m an all-rounder. I want to bowl but it’s quite tough, especially at Canterbury when it nips around a little bit and you’ve got the likes of Stevo [Darren Stevens], Davo [Mark Davies] and Shrecky [Charlie Shreck] who’ve done the business. It’s been tough to get overs – not that I’m pleased to see two of our lads get injured but hopefully I’ve shown Treddy [James Tredwell] what I can do for next year as well.”

Picture supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com