Kentish Express Ashford & District
New-look Bell-Drummond can thrive
Daniel Bell-Drummond is now taking elements of his successful T20 game into the County Championship, according to Kent head coach Matt Walker.
The 28-year-old backed up his century in defeat to Hampshire with a first-innings 109 in Kent’s drawn County Championship Division 1 fixture against Yorkshire. Bell-Drummond will be aiming to get a third County Championship ton in as many matches against Surrey at Beckenham from today (Thursday).
It is top against bottom as Walker’s side are still looking for their first competitive win of the season while Surrey thrashed Northamptonshire inside three days last week. Bell-Drummond, who will captain Kent at the start of their T20 Blast defence with captain Sam Billings away at the IPL, has enjoyed great recent success in whiteball cricket but has finally transferred that form into the red-ball game.
Walker said: “He’s played really nicely. Dan has struggled a little bit by his own high standards in the last few years to find that consistency in red-ball cricket.
“He’s had an extremely successful period in T20 cricket but we know that he’s been a very good Championship cricketer and still has plenty to offer. Moving away from the very top of the order, I think that’s helped. “He’s worked very hard at his game to wrestle himself into this team, and he’s got his rewards. I thought he played brilliantly against Hampshire and to back it up was really good to see.
“The consistency is starting to come and he’s starting to find a way to play that’s going to help him score more runs. He is taking the elements that make him click in T20 cricket into his Championship cricket. “It’s not a case of ‘Just play like you do in T20 cricket’ that would never work - but it’s about taking the positive bits which help him score and transferring that into his Championship game. “Hopefully this becomes a really big season for him.”