Though they will be weakened by international call-ups, Kent Spitfires coach Matt Walker believes his side can still be a force to be reckoned with when this season’s Vitality Blast extravaganza kicks-off.
Spitfires will welcome back opening batsman Zak Crawley from Test duty, but on the flip side, will lose both Joe Denly and Sam Billings to England’s ODI series against Pakistan and for, what Walker believes, will be the entirety of the Vitality Blast group stages.
“We’re getting used to it now,” said Kent’s head coach. “It’s something we plan for and it’s great to see Sam and Joe both in the England mix.
“They leave us this weekend and I suspect, once they’re in the England bio-secure bubble, that we won’t be seeing much of them at all throughout the Vitality Blast qualifiers.
“They bring a lot to the party and Sam is our captain and leader, but it remains a great credit to the club that we’re now having to plan for three players being away on international duty.
“We want our players to be pushing for England teams, of course it makes Kent selection meetings a little tricky at times, and for a small club like us that can be challenging. But my philosophy remains the same; the more players we have playing for England the better it is for the club and for inspiring our next group of players.”
In the absence of Billings and Denly, the likes of Jordan Cox, Oli Robinson, Matt Milnes and Harry Podmore will aim to grab their chance to become Kent’s next cabs off the international rank, while Alex Blake, the county’s first ever player to sign a white-ball only contract, will look forward to his long-awaited chance to shine.
“These youngsters want to play in every game they can and that all helps create a real hunger and exciting buzz around the place,” said Walker.
“Having Zak back will be a boost as I know he and all the young lads are pumped up for this tournament. It’s been challenging for ‘Blakey’ because there’s been no 2nd XI white-ball cricket due to Covid-19. He’s played some club cricket and will join our training group on August 25 to work with us one-on-one.
“I know he’ll be fine come the first game. I’m sure ‘Blakey’ is looking forward to competitive cricket again and we’re all looking forward to seeing him out there because we know what a destructive batsman he can be in this format.”
Walker concedes, however, his disappointment that the T20 schedule for 2020 will disrupt this season’s Bob Willis Trophy first-class tournament, but says he is becoming resigned to what is becoming a familiar scenario for county cricketers.
“I don’t understand why it ever happens,” said Walker. “It makes no sense to me and isn’t good for anyone, particularly during this shortened season. To chop and change between formats makes it difficult for coaches and players and it’s not very easy to do.
“It puts strain on the players physically and is downright disruptive, it’s a shame, especially this season, that we can’t get our red-ball cricket out the way before we start up and focus on the T20.
“It is, what it is, I guess and I appreciate that it’s never easy to schedule a season, but if it could have been all played in separate blocks, as it used to be in the past, then everyone would have been happier – even the supporters.”
Kent will have three spinners; Marcus O’Riordan, Imran Qayyum and Hamidullah Qadri to choose from, while former Somerset seamers Calum Haggett and Nathan Gilchrist, their recent loan signing, will hope to be included in a Spitfires squad for the first time this summer.
Kent begin their south group fixtures with Thursday’s (August 27) visit of Hampshire to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence. The game starts at 2pm and will be available to watch through live-streaming from the club’s website.