Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Ben’s perfect platform
OPENER CAN BUILD ON DEBUT KENT CENTURY
Kent head coach Matt Walker is backing Ben Compton to score lots of runs this summer.
Opener Compton, 28, marked his debut with 129 during the highscoring draw at Essex to become only the 13th Kent player to score a ton on their first-class debut.
Replying to Essex’s 514 all out, Kent reached 581 before the hosts eased to 68-1 late on day four.
“He is a very calming influence,” Walker said of Compton, who signed a two-year deal with Kent in October.
“The reason we signed Ben Compton was because he’s a lefthander and he bats at the top of the order. He is a bit of an old-fashioned English opener.
“I have watched him a lot since he came in and he knows his game well. He waits for the ball to come into his areas and puts it away.
“That’s the art of batting, isn’t it? You stop the good balls and score off the bad ones.
“Coming to a new club, it gives him a great platform straight away.
“Hopefully that will give him the confidence to do it again. He is a very good player.
“He has scored a lot of runs in 2nd XI cricket for Notts and Kent. He is a run scorer. Perhaps, he has just not had the opportunity.
“He is the sort of player we don’t really have at the moment. We have a lot of natural stroke-players who score quickly, whereas Ben is a mentally strong player who knows his game.
“If he keeps playing like he did, he will score a lot of runs.”
Wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson will retain the captaincy in the absence of injured stand-in skipper Jack Leaning.
Walker expects to be without Leaning and fellow batter Joe Denly (both hamstring injuries) until around the start of next month, with Robinson named as Kent’s fourth captain this year before a ball had been bowled at Chelmsford.
Despite the high-scoring nature of the game, Kent’s head coach was pleased with what he saw from his bowlers.
Australian Jackson Bird picked up three first-innings wickets on his Kent bow with the second new ball. Nathan Gilchrist (3-98) and Matt Quinn (2-90) were the pick of the other bowlers.
Walker stated: “Jackson took it on into the wind, that’s just credit to the sort of bloke he is.
“I thought Birdy and Milnesy (Matt Milnes) up front were excellent. On another day, they could have had two or three. It was a great opening partnership.
“With the second new ball, Jackson got into a great rhythm. We know what a good bowler he is. He’ll attack that off stump.
“I really liked the combination of Milnesy and Birdy up front. They bowled beautifully - as all the bowlers did.
“Even Tawanda (Muyeye) played his part with the ball.”
One player coming back into the Kent team for their clash against
Lancashire, which starts today (Thursday), will be England opener Zak Crawley who missed the Essex clash after only recently returning from international duty.
“It’s always great when the England lads come back in. Zak is very good at doing that,” Walker enthused.
“He is a very good player and a good man. It’s been a tough few days with our injury situation.
“But the fact Zak is coming back means he is almost a straight replacement, really. It’s never disruptive when either Zak or Sam (Billings, club captain) come back. They slide right back in.”
Unlike Kent, Lancashire are yet to get their County Championship campaign under way. They possess England’s all-time leading wicket taker James Anderson and spin bowler Matt Parkinson.
Walker warned: “We have got to be at it, it will be a different type of game, but we should not be fearing anybody.
“We will take the confidence from our first game and try and perform again.”
The match will also see unrestricted supporter numbers for the first time at The Spitfire Ground since before the Covid pandemic. Fans returned to watch games last summer, but access around the ground was vastly restricted.
Walker enthused: “I think it will be exciting for all the players and the fans. It’s been a very mutual feeling of the players missing the fans and the fans missing seeing the players, and missing their cricket.
“It made such a difference at the back-end of last season (having crowds back) and, even for the first game, it was great to have that hum around the ground.
“We did miss it. Sadly, we got used to it. To have them back is going to be great. I’m so pleased for the fans.”
South African all-rounder George Linde (groin) remains sidelined.