Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Kent swoop
Former England U19 captain signs for county
Kent have agreed a one-year loan deal for promising Hampshire batsman and England under-19s skipper Joe Weatherley.
The right-hander, who turned 20 in January, made his debuts in all formats for his home county last season but has found his prospects for first XI cricket this summer hampered by the arrivals of Australian batsman George Bailey as overseas signing and South African Rilee Rossouw on a Kolpak deal.
Weatherley made his professional debut last April, making a half-century in two First-class appearances and a promising T20 start when he hit 43 off 28 balls against Glamorgan in July.
He said: “I’m delighted to join such a great club and work with Matt Walker, Sam Northeast and the squad.
“I know Adam Rouse from his days at Hampshire and he’s had lots of positive things to say about Kent, so I can’t wait to get stuck in.”
Kent captain Sam Northeast said: “Joe is a promising young cricketer with a lot of potential. He has joined us for pre-season training and gives us an extra option with the bat.”
Weatherley, who also bowls off-spin, joined up with his new team-mates for the opening of pre-season training in Canterbury on Monday.
Sam Billings was left out of the England side for the third and final ODI in the West Indies.
After opening the batting and making a half-century in the first match of the series, the 25-year-old keeper-batsman was out for a duck in the second match and then replaced at the top of the order by Alex Hales in Barbados, with Hales going on to make a century.
Billings is preparing to link up with the Delhi Daredevils for his second IPL campaign.
Daniel Bell-drummond scored his second England Lions century and shared a record-breaking 200-run partnership with Tom Alsop, to secure a one-day win against Sri Lanka A in Colombo last week.
The Lions were in trouble at 12-2 when Alsop joined the Kent opener but they put on 200 before Alsop departed for 96 with Bell-drummond reaching three figures and then falling to spinner Chaturanga de Silva in the next over after 11 boundaries in 109 balls.
The Kent right-hander had top scored with 51 in the Lions’ defeat in Kurunegala and made 12 in the series finale on Saturday.
His previous List A century was an unbeaten 171 against Sri Lanka A at Canterbury last July.
On Wednesday, Bell-drummond made 37 from 40 balls for the South side in a warm-up match against the UAE ahead of the North v South series in Dubai. Sam Northeast hit 38 from 42 balls with three fours and a six batting at No.4.
Head coach Matt Walker says Kent’s players will benefit from an inspirational audience with war hero Brian Wood on Tuesday.
The Professional Cricketers Association helped arrange the visit of the former Colour Sergeant of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, who was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in combat by the Queen for courageous leadership under enemy fire in Iraq.
In a bid to help players think about decision making in adversity, Mr Wood told the players how, outnumbered in the heat of a close quarters battle, he seized the initiative by leading his men in the first bayonet charge by British soldiers in 25 years into the teeth of the enemy fire, which saw them defeat the enemy and avoid serious casualties themselves.
Walker said: “It was an amazing two hours. It was fascinating, an incredible story.”