CHARITY MATCH RAISES £10,000

The OE Select XI won by six wickets as part of a T20 double-header with a Kent Cricket Academy XI defeating an OE Under-17 side by 69 runs inspired by opener Ollie Robinson’s 108 not out.

The event was spearheaded by Kent duo Calum Haggett and Ivan Thomas, who have both been affected by sudden heart conditions.

The pair were approached by Kent Kent chairman George Kennedy admits it is ‘galling’ that this week’s season finale against Essex counts for nothing.

An ECB restructure of the domestic game means just one side will be promoted from Division 2 of the Specsavers County Championnship this season, with Kent seemingly destined to finish second, which ordinarily would have secured their promotion to the top-flight.

Defeat in their penultimate game against Northants at Beckenham left Kent 26 points adrift of Essex with one game to go, with only 24 available to the winner.

Mr Kennedy admitted: “It has been a season of great promise but ultimate frustration for everyone at Kent.

“The stark fact is, as we take on Essex in what could and perhaps should have been a winner-takes-all contest for promotion, is that in any other year, both of us would most likely have been promoted.

“We all knew this at the start of the season, of course, so there can be no complaints now but, at the same time, it is galling to miss out on what would ordinarily have been a promotion season.”

Mr Kennedy, however, claimed he dad, Paul Daniels, who lost his son Ben to an undiagnosed heart condition in March 2011 when he was aged just 15.

A gala dinner with auctions and entertainment followed the match helping to contribute to the overall total.

Anyone still wanting to donate can do so by going to www.c-r-y.org was proud of the progress the club have made on and off the field in his nine years at the helm and backed skipper Sam Northeast to continue the progress in the future.

He added: “Since I became chairman in 2008, we have made giant strides both on and, perhaps even more so, off the field.

“We have a club now fit for purpose financially and grounds at Canterbury at Beckenham that have been improved hugely. That refurbishment process goes on while, under Sam Northeast’s impressive captaincy, a predominantly young team continues to make strides.”