Kent’s Alex Blake is keen to “express himself” with the bat after an impressive showing in the Tour Match against Sri Lanka last week.
Blake, 25, top-scored for Kent with a 65-ball 60 against the World T20 Champions in a 128-run loss last week; a knock which helped him secure a place in Kent’s 12-man squad for their first NatWest T20 Blast game of the season against Somerset this evening.
The batsman says that playing positively is the way he feels he will be able to have success.
“I think I’ve just got to keep playing my way”, he said. “That’s how I played against Sri Lanka – I went out there and expressed myself, which is what I have done in previous years with some success, so I’ve got myself back to that frame of mind of being positive.
“I got my reverse-sweeps out, my sweeps, coming down the wicket. I think if I sit back and try and look to shuffle ones around, that’s not my game, and that gets me in a bit of trouble, so I keep looking to express myself and get in better positions, and generally it seems to go a bit better for me.”
The Farnborough-born left-hander also said he was pleased to have scored runs against such high-calibre opposition.
“It was a nice feeling to contribute a little bit to the team’s score against an international side”, he said.
“It was nice to get some time in the middle – it was my first game for the 1s this year, so I was happy with it.”
Blake had been in good form for the 2nd XI prior to his call-up for the Sri Lanka game, but admitted that there was quite a gulf between the two levels.
“We had two T20s at the Ageas Bowl against Hampshire [the day before the Sri Lanka match], who are a good side, and I got 69 and 51 in the two games, and I felt like I was hitting it pretty well.
“I just carried it into the game against Sri Lanka a little bit – it took me a while to get off the mark, actually, but after that I felt quite good again, so it was nice to be in a bit of form.”
“It definitely always is [a step-up] – any first team game, let alone against an international team. To come up against the likes of [Nuwan] Kulasekara and [Ajantha] Mendis was really enjoyable, and I’m glad I could get a few against them to show what I can do.”
Kent’s first NatWest T20 Blast fixture of 2014 sees them take on Somerset at Taunton this evening, with the match at the County Ground beginning at 5.30pm.
Picture supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com