Kentish Express Ashford & District
I can still compete with best
IN-FORM KEY AIMING FOR 20,000 FIRST CLASS RUNS
Club captain Rob Key has set his sights on further milestones in a Kent shirt before hanging up his pads. The 36-year-old made his 54th first class century with 158 in last week’s 316-run victory over Glamorgan at Cardiff.
He also fell six runs short of reaching three figures in the first innings and continued his richest vein of form for more than a decade, making it 590 runs in his last eight innings at an average of 74.
Key, speaking to the club website, said: “Records don’t mean too much to me. My only real disappointment in recent years is not racing past 50 hundreds for the club. I’d like, if I could, to nudge that up to 60.
“The amount of games I play has never bothered me but I’d certainly like to get to 20,000 runs at some point.”
Key – who missed this week’s final LV= County Championship game of the year with a pulled muscle – is set to finish the campaign on 19,419 first class runs and 34 short of 29,000 career runs in all formats.
He added: “My records will be there for the taking one day and I would imagine that the likes of Sam Northeast and Daniel BellDrummond, or other lads coming through, will go past me at some point.”
The former England batsmen claimed his fluent 87 in the tour match against the Australians in late July was the turning point in his season.
“I took a lot of heart from that knock,” he admitted. “It reaffirmed that I can still pit myself against the best players in the world.
“After playing half-decent against Mitchell Johnson at full pelt, it felt reassuring. It made me think there’s a bit of time left in me yet.
“That game felt like one of the highlights of my county career, batting against the tourists in front of a packed crowd. Domestic cricket doesn’t get any better than that for me.”
‘I took a lot of heart from that knock. After playing against Mitchell Johnson at full pelt, it felt reassuring’