The cricket season is almost upon us once again and for Kent coach Matt Walker, it can’t come soon enough.

Kent begin their County Championship season the day before Good Friday when Northamptonshire are welcomed to the Spitfire Ground.

Last week Mike Green sat down with Kent Coach Matt Walker to talk through all things Kent – ranging from a quiet winter at home base, through the playing squad for the season all the way to Baz-Ball!

In the first of our five-part series with the Kent coach, the anticipation levels are growing…

“It’s been quiet at Canterbury” Walker admitted. “A lot of the players have been away which has been good for them as we always encourage it if they can.”

“A lot of them have played franchise cricket which has been a great experience for them. Others have gone away playing club cricket overseas and I think that nearly everyone has spent some time on their travels.”

“We’ve had a few players at Canterbury before Christmas but since then we’ve only had a few around. They’re filtering back now, and I think they’ve all enjoyed the experiences and improved their game.”

“It’s been a very different winter back here at HQ, very quiet”

“Young players now have a lot of opportunities to get away and the psychology here is that unless there’s something specific that we think they need to work on, get out and play – it’s that simple!”

“Go and experience the world, go and experience different versions of cricket around the world – different experiences, different coaches, different players – go and branch out while you can.”

“Players are coming back in good form having played and be able to hit our season in full steam and whilst it does take time to get back into English conditions, when you’ve been playing the bulk of the winter overseas, you’re much more suited to get going here at home.”

“The start of the season always come round very quickly and when you’re standing in our dressing room in early January it seems a long way off, but before you know it, it’s the back end of February and you’re only a couple of weeks away from pre-season.”

“It always flies round and before you know it it’s here, and it is very pleasing that everyone’s had a lot of cricket and I’d like to think that they’re in a good place as we want to start well which has been a problem for us.”

“We haven’t started particularly well in the last couple of years in Championship cricket but hopefully it’ll be different in 2023.”

“The theory is that we’ll hit the ground running. April 6th does seem remarkably early to start the season, but it is what it is as that’s the way it’s scheduled now to fit everything in – we were very lucky last year with the weather, we had to start so if we’re lucky enough to get the same weather this year… but if we get “typical” April!”

“Hopefully, we’ll have decent weather pre-season and get to that first game against Northants eager to go – at the moment the sun’s shining and everyone’s coming back from their trips with smiles on their faces.”

“People are excited and looking forward to get going outside with everyone back in the building with that pre-season anticipation and excitement starts to bubble up.

“It’s starting to happen already – it’s a great time of year and I love it. It’s always one of the most fun bits of the season really where everyone is so full of hope, ambition and I hope this year that we can start the season as we mean to continue as we’ve definitely got a squad who can do this…”

“Pre-season is two three day games – away to Middlesex and then home to Essex starting on March 29th – we’ve gone down this route instead of three two day games as we felt that the slightly longer game gives people the opportunity to get a bit more into their legs by hopefully batting a bit longer and bowling a bit longer, and if there is a bit of weather around as well, two day games can be disrupted so hopefully that will work out along with plenty of practice.”

Tomorrow, the attention turns to Walker’s Lieutenants at Canterbury – new Batting coach Alex Gidman and skipper Sam Billings…

Picture supplied by Max Flego Photography.