Walker states his case for Kent job
ASSISTANT coach Matt Walker believes continuity is the key for Kent next summer after throwing his name in the hat to replace Jimmy Adams at the helm.
The search for a new head coach is yet to begin at Canterbury though the committee is set to meet next week to discuss their vision for the man to replace Adams, who last month announced his departure after five years at the club.
The former West Indies skipper leaves Kent after guiding them to second in Division Two, the joint-highest finish of his reign, and having helped cultivate some of the country’s brightest talents in Sam Billings, Daniel Bell-Drummond and skipper Sam Northeast.
Walker, who scored more than 15,000 runs for Kent, is the epitome of a club stalwart and has been Adams’ right-hand man for the last three seasons.
And the 42-year-old is convinced that the powers-that-be do not need to look far for their replacement for Adams.
“I’m definitely going for it, I’ll be putting myself forward,” he said.
“I’ve been assistant coach for a few years now and I think I’m ready for that change – with this group especially.
“I played at Kent for 16 seasons and I understand this club and county cricket. I think it’s important this group has continuity now after Jimmy’s good work, it’s in the process of coming together and I want to see that progression through.
“A lot of planning has come down to myself over the winter, it’s something I do anyway so I’m holding the ship steady at the moment.
“It’s a strange situation to be in, but it’s business as normal and we’ve put more of a winter structure in place this year – we’ve just now got back into training and the players have bought into that.”
The county felt hard done by the ECB’s decision to keep Hampshire in Division One, rather than award a second team promotion, in the wake of Durham’s points penalty last month.
But in truth Kent’s season came to a halt following a dismal ten-wicket defeat to Northamptonshire that denied a potentially winner-takes-all clash with Division Two winners Essex in the final week of the season.
It was a disappointing end to a promising campaign but Walker believes his side showed evidence of a culture change that could herald success.
“Certainly last year we felt like we improved the culture, we wanted to change a little bit and make sure the dressing room are all aiming for the same high goals,” he added.
“There are small improvements, it’s not going to make you play a cover drive better, but I think that improved discipline has definitely shown on the field.
“We’ve got two good sides (Durham and Nottinghamshire) coming down but we played some very good cricket last year – we have the ability to take 20 wickets and also get runs on the board.
“For a lot of the younger ones to feature as much as they did last year was great. So we’ve got the squad, we just need to make sure we’re bringing through the winning culture.”