Kent have named a 15-man squad for their County Championship game away at Leicestershire, scheduled to start on Sunday.
Jimmy Adams’ side will be looking to get their County Championship campaign up-and-running against Leicestershire, having seen the entirety of their first scheduled game of the season away at Worcestershire abandoned without a ball bowled.
The 15-man squad sees two spinning options included, in Adam Riley and Imran Qayyum, and a host of seamers also named, in the likes of Matt Coles, Mitch Claydon, Calum Haggett, David Griffiths and Hugh Bernard.
Overseas signing Tom Latham is not named in the squad, though he is expected to arrive in Canterbury towards the end of next week, with the view to him being in the squad for Kent’s first home game of the season, starting next Sunday against Glamorgan.
Following the announcement of Rob Key’s retirement earlier in the week, Sean Dickson retains his place in the squad, which also feature Alex Blake and Adam Ball. Alongside them are regulars Daniel Bell-Drummond, Joe Denly (who faces a fitness test on a side strain), Darren Stevens and captain Sam Northeast, with Adam Rouse set to make his County Championship debut behind the stumps.
Kent skipper Northeast will have the opportunity to bowl first in the game, without a toss taking place, thanks to the measures implemented by the ECB to improve pitches in Division 2 cricket.
“As I see it, these changes are a big step in the right direction”, the 26-year-old captain said.
“Last July I made my feelings known about the poor standard of pitches being prepared for our games on the road in Division Two.
“You don’t mind the odd sporting pitch here and there, but it was starting to become a general theme, a trend. So I’m glad something has been done by the ECB to help redress the balance.
“Dispensing with the toss ought to lead to fairer pitches which will help batsmen in general and spin bowlers across the country to get involved in four-day cricket again.”
Home side Leicestershire come into the game on the back of an impressive 10-wicket win away at Glamorgan earlier this week. Australian bowler Clint McKay took eight wickets in the match, while former Kent wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien hit an important first-innings 93.
The hosts’ 13-man squad includes two more familiar faces in the form of experienced, 38-year-old seamer Charlie Shreck, who spent two years at Canterbury in 2012 and 2013, and Neil Dexter, who started his county career with Kent, playing at the club between 2005 and 2008.
Kent are unbeaten in their last 12 matches against Leicestershire, though the hosts have been in reasonable form, both towards the end of last season and at the start of the 2016 campaign. They have won two and drawn three of their last six games, having won just once in the 43 games preceding them.
Leicestershire squad: Mark Cosgrove (c), Paul Horton, Niall O’Brien (wk), Angus Robson, Neil Dexter, Mark Pettini, Aadil Ali, Jigar Naik, Wayne White, Ben Raine, Clint McKay, Zak Chappell, Charlie Shreck
Kent squad: Sam Northeast (c), Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sean Dickson, Joe Denly, Darren Stevens, Alex Blake, Adam Ball, Adam Rouse (wk), Calum Haggett, Matt Coles, Mitchell Claydon, Adam Riley, Imran Qayyum, David Griffiths, Hugh Bernard