Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens is keen to see some new faces come into the club this winter to bolster the bowling attack.

Stevens was part of a five man bowling attack in the County Championship that almost saw Kent promoted to Division One, but in the end they just couldn’t get the required results come the end of the season.

The likes of Mark Davies and Charlie Shreck bowled a lot more overs than could have been originally envisaged at the start of last season, but with the side playing so well and a lack of alternative options, there was little other choice for Jimmy Adams and then captain Rob Key.

With Adam Ball now back for the full season, Kent have one more bowling option, but Stevens would like to see a few new faces coming to Canterbury in the coming months, just in case there are injuries over the forthcoming campaign:

“Last year, we had five bowlers for most of the Championship season. I think it was only Mark Davies who missed a few games through injury, whilst Matt Coles missed the odd game with England duty.”

“I know we have limited funds, but I’d be very surprised if we have a season like last year where we go the whole season with pretty much the same five bowlers.”

“It was a freak year for the bowlers staying largely injury free, so we need some more legs and preferably another seam bowler.”

“For those occasions where some of the boys do need a bit of a breather, we need someone else to come in. We did really well last season until about three quarters of the way through and then we died off.”

“If we don’t recruit any more people, I think that’s the way it could go again. It could be especially tough seeing as we have four 4 day games in September.”

Stevens also threw a name into the hat as to who he would like to see Kent sign this winter:

“An overseas bowler or an all-rounder would be nice and I feel there are some good people around we could sign.”

“My personal preference would be to bring Simon Cook back. He had a couple of tough years where he had injuries in warm up games, but last year Simon Willis spent all summer with him and said he got better and better.”

“He said he was bowling as good as he’d ever seen him bowl, so it was sad to see that he left at the end of the season.”

“If we’re looking for another bowler, why not give Cookie another go and see if he fancies another year? He would be fantastic, he’s a good asset for the club, he’s got his Level 4 coaching and he’s a great role model for the second team.”

Meanwhile, Stevens is backing new skipper James Tredwell to succeed in his new role, but told KSN how he woud have liked to have been given the chance to captain the side too:

“I think Treddy will do a very good job. He’s got a very good cricket brain and got lots of experience.”

“We need a leader, but we’ve got such an experienced side and everyone knows their roles. I think it should a reasonably easy job for him and it will allow Keysey to be more relaxed and concentrate on his batting.”

“I didn’t get asked, but I think I would have fancied it given the opportunity. It’s something I haven’t done before at first team level and it was something I did when I was younger in second team cricket.”

Picture supplied by Sarah Ansell. To see more of Sarah’s pictures, visit www.sarahcanterbury.com