Memories of a Legend: The day ‘The King’ came to Canterbury. Paul Parkinson looks back on the day Shane Warne came to Kent.
21st June 1990 will be a day long-remembered by the 11 Kent club cricketers who took to the field at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury to take on Hampshire in the 3rd round of the Nat West Bank Trophy; a Hampshire side that included arguably the greatest spin bowler the world has ever seen, Shane Warne.
Kent Cricket Board, at the time, weren’t to be underestimated, even though victories over First-Class Counties were few and far between. The County’s Board side was the only one in the country to reach the 3rd round of the NatWest Bank/Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy in each of the 5 years they competed.
Not that Warne was the only draw, with Robin Smith, John Stephenson, Dimi Mascarenhas, Shaun Udal and Alan Mullally all former, current or future international cricketers, but there was one man the crowd wanted to see.
All credit to the great Australian, he gave his time freely before and after the match, going across to mingle with the Kent Cricket Board supporters who had congregated in the Les Ames stand, including Andy Tutt’s father.
Warne’s opening spell in the game from the Nackington Road End wasn’t spectacular as he went for 24 from his first 4 overs, although the highlight for Sevenoaks Vine opener John Bowden was ‘Dil-scooping’ the great man over the head of wicketkeeper Adrian Aymes down to the Pavilion boundary (long before the ‘Dil-scoop’ was a regular occurrence). One voice from the Ames stand could be heard to implore to Robin Smith “take him off Smudge, save his career!”
But, bowling the last 6 overs from the Pavilion end to the tail-enders was a different matter as Warne wove spell after spell to take a further 4-10 to wrap up the innings.
The result didn’t matter on the day. The main thing was that Kent Cricket experienced one of the true greats of the game, and players and supporters have memories forever.
Kent Cricket Board
John Bowden (Sevenoaks Vine) c Stephenson b Mascarenhas 30
Shami Iqbal (Sevenoaks Vine) c Smith b Mascarenhas 33
Matt Featherstone (Bromley) lbw b Mascarenhas 0
Mark Alexander (Tunbridge Wells) c Stephenson b Udal 2
James Tredwell (Folkestone) Run Out 0
Simon Williams (Blackheath) Not Out 45
Andy Walton (Bromley) lbw b Warne 0
Eddie Stanford (Bromley) b Udal 13
Damon Trigger (St Lawrence) c Stephenson b Warne 0
Andy Tutt (RACS) st Aymes b Warne 4
Kevin Masters (Lordswood) st Aymes b Warne 0
Extras 22
Total: 149 all out (50 overs)
Hampshire bowling
SRG Francis 6-1-10-0
AD Mascarenhas 10-2-25-3
AD Mullally 10-2-37-0
JP Stephenson 4-1-12-0
SD Udal 10-2-24-2
SK Warne 10-0-34-4
Hampshire
GW White c Williams b Masters 15
JP Stephenson b Stanford 40
AD Mascarenhas Not Out 67
RA Smith Not Out 20
Did not bat: WS Kendall, JS Laney, SK Warne, SD Udal, AN Aymes, AD
Mullally, SRG Francis
Extras 8
Total: 150-2 (36.5 overs)
Kent Cricket Board bowling
Kevin Masters 8-1-28-1
Andy Tutt 6-3-6-0
Damon Trigger 10-3-27-0
Andy Walton 1.5-0-23-0
James Tredwell 4-0-27-0
Eddie Stanford 7-0-37-1