Kentish Express Ashford & District
Clear thinking is key
Allan Donald believes Kent don’t need to change too much as they look to make an impact in Division 1 of the championship this season.
The county are back in the championship’s top flight for the first time since 2010 but assistant coach Donald has said the last thing they should be is overawed.
The former South African paceman believes they just need to bring the same ‘test match’ intensity to the field as they did last season when no team won more games across the two divisions (Kent and Division 1 champions Surrey both won 10 out of 14).
Donald, 52, explained: “We punched our weight in a big way last year especially in the championship. That’s where we’re going to be judged. We spoke a language in the dressing room, a test match language and we want to keep that going.
“We did the simple things very well, we brought plenty of intensity, we were uncompromising. Whoever does the basics well in a test match wins the match and I think nothing needs to change now.
“My only potential red flag is if we do over think this thing. If we do think too much about the hype, that we’re in a big league here, we’re playing at Test grounds, better teams better pitches.
“We’re where we want to be and we’re there on merit. A lot of the discussions we’ll have will be geared towards that. How we’re going to set ourselves up and not to overthink Division 1 and what it can potentially do to you.
“I see Division 1 as a marathon and you need to break that down into sections. You can’t think about the end product and where you want to finish.”
Donald described the recent training camp in Paarl, South Africa, as ‘exceptional’ and says the club now have a terrific team culture in place.
He added: “We had two very tough weeks, 11 days of training, with I think just two days’ break, we’ve had really good chats about ourselves and how we want to set ourselves up for this season.
“What I loved about the group is that they not only showed their skill, they showed they are really breaking the door down and want to get into this first team.
“I love that hunger, I love what’s happening here at the moment.
“We’ve got people who want to learn and they speak the right language the way they trained out there was exceptional, in the gym and on the training ground.
“Some really good stuff has come out from the young players as well which is refreshing to hear.
“It’s taken us 12 months to set up a culture here and our values as Kent County Cricket Club, that’s something which is really close to the guys.
“It’s something we worked very hard to establish last year, establishing our values and that’s come from the players.
“That’s what they wanted, it’s what they wanted this club to stand for and what they want to represent, there was some strong stuff, some deep stuff and there’s more to come.”
I love that hunger, I love what’s happening here at the moment