Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Frustration as promotion hopes peter out with draw
Coach Matt Walker has admitted defeat in Kent’s quest for Championship promotion after their latest frustrating draw.
The visitors were forced to settle for their seventh draw in 12 games, against Gloucestershire at Bristol last Friday, after failing to agree terms on a final-day run chase to set up a result.
With only two games remaining, Kent can no longer overhaul leaders Worcestershire and are 43 points adrift of secondplaced Nottinghamshire in the final promotion spot in Division 2.
Walker said: “The most overwhelming feeling at the moment is that our season is over.
“We are not going to get promoted and that was what we set out to achieve at the start of the season.”
Kent opted to bowl on the opening morning but were made to rue the decision as Chris Dent (59) and Cameron Bancroft piled on the runs.
The openers put on 141 and it was 225-3 before Darren Stevens picked up 3-50 to pass 50 Championship wickets for the season.
A final-wicket stand of 111 hauled the hosts to 385 all out, with last-man Matt Taylor making 36 with the rest going to Bancroft who carried his bat for a superb unbeaten 206 in a near nine-hour effort.
Adam Milne picked up 3-90, while Mitch Claydon and Joe Denly collected two wickets each. Sam Northeast again impressed in the reply, as he and Denly both passed 1,000 Championship runs for the season.
Daniel Bell-drummond (58), Denly (57) and 66 from Northeast kept Kent in contention while 47 from Sam Billings and an unbeaten 65 from Stevens managed to drag Kent into a one-run lead in another rain-hit September game.
The teams discussed the possibility of setting up a runchase for Kent to try and keep themselves in contention for promotion but could not settle on an outcome and Bancroft added another 72 and Dent 41 as Gloucestershire built a sizeable lead.
Despite Stevens returning his seventh five-fer of the summer with 5-77 to give brief hope of an unlikely result, an unbeaten 78 not out on the final day from wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick, playing with a broken finger, ensured the game petered out.
The hosts eventually declaring in the final session on 294-9 before the sides shook hands.
Kent remain winless in red-ball cricket since the victory over Sussex at Tunbridge Wells back in May and sit in fourth place, 14 points adrift of Northants who also seem set to miss out on promotion. Walker added: “I can’t fault our effort. I thought we were outstanding and kept going all day. But that is probably the story of our season – it was never quite enough.
To win a division or win promotion you have to be good from start to finish and we have probably just fallen short on too many occasions.”
Kent were back in action against Derbyshire in their penultimate match which started at Chesterfield on Tuesday.
They complete their campaign against Glamorgan at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, on Monday.