Blake makes most of chance to shine

ALEX BLAKE is desperate to build on his encouraging first appearance of the season and make his mark in Kent’s limited overs sides for the rest of the summer.

The 24-year-old broke through with Kent by scoring a LV= County Championship century in 2010 but has struggled to make an impact in recent times, scoring only 77 runs in eight matches in 40-over action last year and averaging 18 runs in four t20 innings last summer.

However, after some encouraging performances for the seconds and in Kent League Premier Division for Beckenham, Blake was given a recall for Sunday’s Yorkshire Bank 40 clash with Northantonshire Steelbacks.

Despite coming in with Kent 148- 4 and under a dozen overs remaining, Blake cracked 43 in a 24-ball cameo which featured seven fours and a six before departing with five overs to go.

He said: “The wicket’s been quite good and you see the scores throughout the week – I always thought there was a chance (we could win).

“I had a go at it but it wasn’t to be. I thought we could have done it at the end with a couple more good overs.

“It was nice to get a go for my first game of the season and hopefully I get a few more from there.”

Blake said he had been feeling quite good in the seconds this season.

He said: “I have just gone back to my natural way of being quite aggressive, not going over the top, but just playing it as I see it. I’m naturally quite aggressive, that’s how I play, that’s what worked best for me and that’s the way forward for me.

“This will give me a bit of confidence. I’ll keep playing the way I play and hopefully be successful from there.”