‘I didn’t know when we won. I was a bit out of it’

Brendan Nash revealed he was oblivious to Calum Haggett’s match-winning boundary after an epic innings of 199 to steer Kent to the brink of victory.

The Australian-born former West Indies international was forced to retire due to heat exhaustion while on 199 and with Kent just 21 runs short of their victory target at Cheltenham on Saturday.

He was shrouded in wet blankets and ice packs as Haggett cracked the final ball for four to spark joyous scenes, although Nash admitted: “I didn’t know exactly when we won. I was a bit out of it.

“I was lying on the bench with a wet towel over my head.”

He added: “It’s nothing I’ve ever really experienced before. I was dizzy with slight blurred vision.

“The reason I didn’t come off earlier was that I was only really facing one or two balls an over, getting a single and then letting Tred taking the rest.

“It wasn’t bad but then towards the end I was facing two and three and I began to feel like a boxer on the ropes. I was not feeling the best.

“The umpire thankfully made a good decision and called (Kent physio Nimmo Reid) onto the field.

“The umpire said ‘ you don’t look so great’ and called him on. I collapsed to my knees. I sort of fell as I walked towards him.”

The 35-year-old was only eight runs shy of his highest first class score, and a run away from a place on the club’s honours board for a double century. However, he revealed: “I didn’t know I was that close. Tred kept telling me in between overs how many we needed but I couldn’t really focus on the scoreboard, so I didn’t bother.

“I couldn’t physically swing the bat that well so I

‘I began to feel like a boxer on the ropes. I was not feeling the best’

don’t know how much use I was going to be out there anyway.

“I was close to going to hospital. Nimmo wanted me to but being a Saturday night it was difficult to get in and after 20 minutes of rehydration and lying down in the dark, I was back with it. ”

Nash had been sidelined by a side strain for the previous three weeks – a spell which he believes contributed to his collapse.

He said: “It maybe was a combination of everything – I haven’t played in those conditions for a while, I’d had three days of it before, it was the first game back from a three-week lay-off, we spent the first day and a half in the dirt and the tenseness of the game.

“I was just mentally shot but thankfully we got over the line.

“It was a fantastic effort from everyone. We stayed positive and put them under pressure at the end of the day.

“I’m glad everyone could play a part in it.”