Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Blake hoping for strong finish
Alex Blake hopes strong performances in the closing weeks of the season will help his quest to earn a new deal at Kent. The 24-year-old made his first appearance for Kent in a 40-over match with Surrey at Canterbury six years ago next month but has failed to establish himself as a first team regular, despite playing 99 times in all forms of the game in the following six seasons. The left-hander has yet to be picked in the championship this season but appeared in all 10 of Kent’s t20 games this summer, although he averaged just 14, while his two Yorkshire Bank 40 appearances produced a combined 57 runs. He admitted: “It’s been a bit frustrating this season. I was pretty happy with how it started, my first game back in the YB40 (scoring 43 against Northants in June). “I was pretty confident after that but then there were a couple of games where I could have done better. “There were a couple of games where I did OK in the t20 but I have not featured in the 40-over since then. “I would have liked to maybe have made more of the opportunities I have had but all I can do is try and put it right in the future, try to finish the season strongly.” Blake fell just 10 runs short of a century in the 2nds’ innings-and84-run win over their Northants counterparts last week and followed
‘I certainly want to be at Kent next year but I have not had an offer yet’
this with a superb 141 for Beckenham in the Kent League, Premier Division on Saturday, cracking 21 fours and a six in a match-winning innings. Blake said: “I would have liked to have got a few more for the seconds on a good batting track but I scored some at the weekend. “There are only a couple more 2nds games this season but I want to try and finish the season well and see what happens. “Simon Willis and James Tredwell keep an eye on how people are doing in club cricket and take notice of how you’re doing. “I got a text from Tredders after the game the other day saying ‘well done’.” He added: “I certainly want to be at Kent next year but I have not had an offer yet – I think the club are still talking about it. “We had some informal chats a few weeks ago and they were pretty positive, so we’ll wait and see.”