T20 franchise is ‘inevitable,’ says Clifford

Kent cricket

The controversial subject of the ECB’s proposed T20 franchise competition dominated Kent’s 2017 annual meeting on Tuesday. Kent and Surrey are the only two counties to publically question the introduction of an eightteam, city-based competition, set to launch in 2020 and which the ECB claim will provide each of the 18 counties with a £1.3m share of TV revenue each year. In his final act as chairman before handing over the reins to former treasurer Simon Phillip, George Kennedy and chief executive Jamie Clifford attended an ECB meeting about the plans in London on Monday. Mr Kennedy told members at Tuesday’s packed meeting: “We turned up expecting a debate but we didn’t have a debate, we were lectured to. It wasn’t particularly satisfactory. “We can fight them as much as you like but it’s difficult for a club this size in a David and Goliath situation.” Mr Clifford told members: “From what we have seen, there is an inevitability about this. We as a county have been less enthusiastic about the proposals than others and at times struggled to see why they were necessary. “But we have made our point – we now have to work out how best to position ourselves to ensure Kent are not prejudiced against in the future. “We have to get the best from the situation. It’s not all bad, this club will receive more than £6m between now and 2024, significant sums of money with which we hope to be able to do some exciting things.” Members were also told about three separate battles with the ECB in 2016 with Mr Clifford claiming: “We locked horns with the ECB on regular occasions through the year and there were no shortage of matters on which we found a difference of opinion. “In all the cases we didn’t come off on the right side but we tried to maintain a constructive relationship with them.” The first case regarded the washout at Worcester, another was a suspension for Matt Coles and finally the controversial reprieve from Championship relegation for Hampshire, instead of promotion for Kent, which ended with Mr Kennedy discussing legal action.

Kent’s Joe Denly and Darren Stevens both hit centuries on the first day of their three-day warm-up game against Leeds Bradford MCCU on Tuesday. Denly made 101 and Stevens 115 as the pair impressed ahead of Kent’s Championship opener against Gloucestershire on April 7 at Canterbury.

Kent all-rounder Fabian Cowdrey has left the club by mutual consent. The 24-yearold, who made his debut in 2013, said: “It was not an easy decision. I am sad to be leaving but believe for the club and my own well-being it is the right time to leave.”