Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Perfect combination
The close-season arrivals of George Garrett and Michael Cohen have been described as “a nice twofold signing” to strengthen Kent’s bowling attack by head coach Matt Walker.
Left-arm quick Cohen, a former South African under-19 international, and right-arm seamer Garrett have agreed two-year Kent deals after spells with Derbyshire and Warwickshire respectively. Garrett, who turned 24 on Monday, has previously played for Kent 2nds while Walker thinks Cohen is a more explosive type of bowler. “George has had a tough period at Warwickshire,” said Walker. “He was among a very elite bowling unit up there, so his opportunities were pretty limited.
“But he’s a good bowler and has just lacked opportunities, I suppose, to really show that on the first-team stage.
“He’s a good lad, works hard and is really ambitious, which is exactly what we want from a person walking into this dressing room.
“George played some secondteam cricket for us and caught the eye. He’s an exciting prospect in terms of being young and wanting to seek that opportunity. George works very hard and knows his game pretty well.
“He’s very consistent, very accurate and has got some good skills.
“George adds to our bowling attack very nicely. He’s your glue bowler who will create a lot of pressure, hopefully for the other bowlers.
“On the other end of the spectrum, we have signed someone in Michael Cohen that’s quite
raw, high pace and has an exciting dynamic. He’s a wicket-taking threat and a left-armer, as well.
“We’ve got one of each, really. One that will blast a few out and one that will create some pressure. That’s quite a nice twofold signing in some ways. “The same as George, Mikey was busting a gut, trying to get some opportunities in the first team. He works hard. He’s full of beans and is looking forward to a new challenge. “Mikey hasn’t quite had the opportunities he would have liked and had a brief spell at Derbyshire, where he played a few games. He’s worked very hard to get a contract here.” Kent had been eager to bolster their bowling ranks after they only narrowly avoided County
Championship Division 1 relegation last season - but Walker thinks the pair offer real quality, too.
He said: “They add to our bowling attack. We need numbers. Obviously, we know last year how hard it was when we had all those injuries and that made life very difficult. “Numbers are important but, also, you want some quality as well. I think we have got it.” Another player hoping for a big summer is fast bowler Nathan Gilchrist. Having come on leaps and bounds since joining Kent in 2020 - initially on loan - and then earning an England Lions’ call-up early last year, he never got going during an injury-plagued 2023.
The 23-year-old is on the road to full fitness now, though, and
trained with Desert Vipers’ squad at the Emirati International League T20 competition in the United Arab Emirates. He’s now with some of his Kent team-mates in Mumbai, India, for warm-weather training. “He’s coming on nicely,” Walker said. “It was an incredibly frustrating season last season for Gilly.
“He just had niggle after niggle, came back and then had another sort of setback and never really got going at all. “As one of our best bowlers, not having him at all last season was a real blow. I know how frustrated he was.
“He’s looking to hit this season hard. To have a fully fit and buzzing Nathan Gilchrist in our team will make us better.” Kent added Australian overseas bowler Xavier Bartlett for the first half of the campaign last week. But no more homegrown signings are expected to be made by the county. “We’re pretty much done,” added Walker.
“The budget has been prettywell spent.” Margate-born Megan Belt has been appointed as Kent Women’s captain.
The spinner replaces Tammy Beaumont - who has stepped down due to the demands of regional, franchise and international cricket limiting her availability - in both formats. “I’m absolutely thrilled to be the new captain of Kent Women,” Belt said.
“It’s my job now to lead this young, hungry squad to add more success for the Horses.”