Attack must be sharpened up if Kent are to offer challenge

TURBULENCE is the status quo at Kent these days – even their most successful seasons are rarely smooth.

On the surface, last term was mostly promising. Second in Division Two was their highest County Championship finish since 2010, and would have earned promotion any other year, while a quarter-final berth in the One-Day Cup was not to be sneered at.

Yet just below the surface, there was club captain and dressing room heartbeat Rob Key’s abrupt April retirement; high performance director Simon Willis’ sudden departure for a job with Sri Lanka in May; and seamer Matt Coles’ behaviour during a trip to Cardiff in June being investigated by the club.

Kent fans must also be fed up of watching every other side snap up marquee overseas signings, while their county annually digs down the back of the sofa to try to scrabble together enough pennies to afford a foreign star.

As of writing, the sofa bank hasn’t provided enough yet.

Sam Northeast became the County Championship’s second-youngest captain, behind Hampshire’s James Vince, and steered them through last year’s choppy waters, while also having his best season with the bat.

More than 1,300 Championship runs were plundered – the most by a Kent man since Martin van Jaarsveld in 2009 – and he is a key reason why hopes are so high for 2017.

Northeast is at the heart of a batting line-up as potent as any in Division Two – Daniel Bell-Drummond, Joe Denly, Sam Billings, Sean Dickson, Darren Stevens, prospect Joe Weatherley on loan from Hampshire, the list goes on.

The loss of Tom Latham to Durham hurts but on runs alone, Kent might well be favourites for promotion – even with powerhouses Notts and Sussex lurking.

But a threadbare bowling attack suggests heartbreak awaits long-suffering fans. The fact that the military medium of 40-year-old Darren Stevens, often opens the bowling tells its own story, while Mitch Claydon, 34, and James Tredwell, 35, could be generously described as venerable.

Success may be dependent on one of the likes of Charlie Hartley, Hugh Bernard, Matt Hunn, Adam Riley or Ivan Thomas stepping up.

New man at the helm Matt Walker has opted for international experience to transform the bowling attack with Jason Gillespie, temporarily, and Allan Donald, more permanently, now employed as coaches.

And Walker’s gambit will need to pay off if red-ball promotion and white-ball success is to follow.