NO TIME FOR MOPING, SAYS KENT COACH

Matt Walker has urged Kent’s players to use their T20 disappointment to help fire them towards championship promotion.

The head coach admitted the squad were disappointed by their exit from the Natwest Blast at the group stage but he wants them to use their hurt as motivation for the rest of the season.

Kent, fifth in Specsavers County Championship Division 2, begin their five-match run-in at home to Leicestershire at Canterbury on Monday and Walker expects a positive reaction.

He said: “We’ve got five important games coming up and we’ll reflect and move on pretty quickly from this (their exit from the T20).

“There’s no point dwelling on it. We can’t change anything now, we can only get better over the winter in terms of our skills in white ball cricket and that goes for the 50-over campaign as well but we’ve got more important things to focus on now.

“There’s so much to play for and when you have a massive disappointment like this, people will be hurting you can use that to our advantage and make them realise it’s not a great feeling but we can do something about this.

“We can try not to have this feeling again this season and make sure we use it to fuel the enthusiasm, the motivation for them to go on and win this championship.

“It will be a lot of hard work, five back-to-back games is always going to be a challenge but we’re in the shake-up and we’ve got a chance.”

Walker revealed the squad would have a few days off before building up to the Leicester game but admitted they can’t afford to have any hangover from the T20 exit.

Only three points separate Kent from the two sides above them, Northamptonshire and Sussex, and they are 17 adrift of second-placed Worcestershire, with a game in hand.

Walker added: “We’ve got to get ourselves in the right frame of mind, in the right head space.

“Not being in the quarterfinals (of the T20) gives us a good opportunity to really focus on the red ball.

“There’s a positive in that I suppose, even if it’s a thin one but it will give the boys a bit of time to recover.”

Kent continue to monitor Kiwi fast bowler Adam Milne’s thigh injury while batsman Sean Dickson and all-rounder Will Gidman are back in contention having not played at all during the T20 campaign.

Sam Billings is in line to make his 50th First-class career appearance.