Walker: We will bounce back

Spitfires coach Matt Walker says his batsmen need to take more individual responsibility in the Natwest T20 Blast South Group clash against Middlesex. Walker backed his players to respond in the right way when they are return to action at Richmond today (Thursday, 5.30pm). Kent were beaten at home to Gloucestershire on Tuesday. Despite restricting the visitors to 138-8 at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, they fell eight runs short in a modest chase. Despite their superb form, Walker insisted Kent can’t rely on openers Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-drummond to get them into winning positions. He said: “We had a great first half and I thought we bowled and fielded well. I thought (138) was well under par. “We knew it was not going to be a straightforward chase because the wicket wasn’t great but we should be chasing that total down comfortably. “We lost our way, lost wickets, took some poor options, nobody really grabbed it by the horns and took responsibility to go and win us the game.” He added: “It’s a game we should win 99 times out of 100 but it wasn’t to be. We have got to learn from that pretty quickly because we can’t rely on the top-three to win us games every week. We’re going to need it from top to bottom.” Despite the loss – their second to Gloucestershire in five days – Kent have two wins and remain well in the hunt for a knockout place. Looking at the Middlesex game, he said: “I have complete faith in the players to bounce back and Thursday will be a different game.” Kent travel to face Sussex at Hove on Sunday (2.30pm).