Kent Spitfires will take to the field with a youthful side as they take on Hampshire Royals at the Ageas Bowl in the Twenty 20 this afternoon.

With five defeats from their opening five games, the Spitfires have decided to give some of the club’s younger players a go in the side with some of the more experienced pros given a rest after back to back County Championship games.

Fabian Cowdrey is likely to make his Twenty 20 debut after scoring a double century for the Second XI last week, whilst Daniel Bell-Drummond will open the batting in the absence of both Rob Key and Sam Northeast who are both rested.

Brendan Nash isn’t to be risked after scoring two centuries in the past two County Championship games as Kent look to manage his workload after recently returning from a side strain.

Meanwhile, Adam Riley, Mitchell Claydon and Matt Coles all come into contention for a place in the side after sitting out the draw against Hampshire in the County Championship with Ashley Shaw included in the 12 man squad.

With the Spitfires set to complete their T20 campaign over the next couple of weeks, Head Coach Jimmy Adams explained the decision to give some players a rest:

“We’ve had a hectic last few weeks and feel it is in the best interests of both the Club and the players alike.”

“Hopefully this break will will allow them to refresh and then come back strong for the very hectic run-in that we face.”

Meanwhile, captain James Tredwell believes Fabian Cowdrey has deserved his chance:

“You can’t ignore the amount of runs that Fabian has been scoring in the second eleven. If you keep scoring that heavily, you will get your chance and he’ll have the opportunity to show what he can do.”

“I don’t think we will be seeing him in the side as anything other than a batsman as we have plenty of bowling options, but that is another string to his bow if we need it.”

Play starts at 2:30pm today with KSN providing live updates on our Twitter feed – @ksncricket

Kent Spitfires: Tredwell (c), Bell-Drummond, Billings, Stevens, Blake, Cowdrey, Jones (w), Riley, Claydon, Coles, Philander, Shaw.

Hampshire Royals squad: Jimmy Adams, David Griffiths, Sean Ervine, Danny Briggs, Liam Dawson, Chris Wood, James Vince, Adam Wheater, Michael Carberry, Sohail Tanvir, Michael Bates, Neil McKenzie, Dimitri Mascarenhas.