Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
START BY STEVENS UP THERE WITH THE BEST
Darren Stevens claims his explosive start to the season is ‘up there’ with the best of his career.
The all-rounder, who turns 41 on April 30 and has played 268 First Class games since his debut almost 20 years ago to the day, was in devastating form at Hove on Monday.
He claimed 5- 51 to follow up knocks of 68 and 71 not out to lay the foundations for Kent’s 226-run win at Hove which continued their perfect start to the Specsavers County Championship Division 2 campaign.
Following his 6- 22 return to seal another big win at home to five weeks in Antigua – have seen us playing competitive cricket, getting miles in the legs and time out in the middle.
“Then coming back and having a couple of friendlies and the University game – our prep has been as good as it’s been for a long time.”
Monday was the all- rounder’s 14th First Class five-wicket haul – incredibly all of which have come since his 35th birthday.
He said: “One thing I do is bowl straight. At my pace I have to bowl wicket to wicket with straight fields.
“I got a couple to bounce. I had a little purple patch where I bowled straight, stuck to my guns and it paid off for me.”
Stevens claims Kent’s successful start is the product of having grown together as a team in recent seasons.
He said: “The last few games last year we were outstanding. We’ve been together three or four years, the young lads are senior players now and we all know each other’s games inside out. We all know our jobs.”
He also hailed the depth of bowling options available to head coach Matt Walker, adding: “It’s the first time at the club since maybe 2005 or 2006 that we have had a lot of seamers waiting to come in.
“You’ve got probably four or five waiting to get in, playing second team cricket, trying to take wickets and five-fers to try and push themselves in. We have a real nice mix and it’s a headache for selectors.”