Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Bollinger aims to maintain explosive start
Overseas star Doug Bollinger has made an instant impact at Kent but says he doesn’t want his bright start to fizzle out. The 32-year-old Australian paceman claimed match figures of 7-81 in the LV= County Championship Division 2 defeat at Worcester and claimed five of the first 12 wickets to fall in this week’s clash with Leicestershire. Bollinger said: “The ball’s coming out well at the moment, the important thing is to keep the body ticking over now. “It was good to get a five-fer on debut, hopefully there will be a few more to come. I don’t want to get them out of the way too early. “It wasn’t the result we wanted at Worcester but we all tried hard and we’re glad we got it out of the way now.” In both Championship games so far Bollinger collected two wickets in as many balls, leaving him with hat-trick opportunities, which were averted each time. He said: “I should have had it on Tuesday. We’ll have to wait and see if it comes.” He also backed Rob Key’s aggressive declaration, 64 runs in arrears, to try and set-up a result against Leicestershire, adding: “I thought it was good by Keysey. He was speaking to me about it and I told him I thought it was a good idea. “It just shows confidence in the team and how you want to win, declaring behind. I think those kind of things can reward you.” Bollinger claimed it was ‘good fun’ playing at Canterbury for the first time, adding: “It’s a good crowd and a good ground. The guys and the people here make it so much easier, it really helps you relax.”