Kent County Cricket Club in 2020

Kent County Cricket Club

2020 season
Coach	Matthew Walker
Captain	Sam Billings
Ground(s)	St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
Bob Willis Trophy	2nd, South Group
Vitality Blast	Quarter-finals
← 2019 2021 →

In 2020 Kent County Cricket Club were scheduled to compete in Division One of the County Championship, the Royal London One-Day Cup and the 2020 t20 Blast. However, the season was heavily disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, with no county cricket fixtures played until August. ^[1] For the shortened season, the majority of counties voted on 7 July to play first-class and Twenty20 cricket, ^[2] with the Royal London One-Day Cup being cancelled. ^[3] Instead of the County Championship this year, the 18 first-class counties competed for the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy, which consisted of three regional groups of six teams and a final at Lord's. ^[4]

The season was the fourth in charge for head coach, and former player, Matthew Walker. Former Kent bowler Simon Cook became the new bowling coach after a spell as head coach of the Hong Kong national team, replacing South African Allan Donald who left the county at the end of the previous season. ^{[5] [6]} Former England all-rounder Michael Yardy joined Kent as the new batting coach in February 2020. ^[7] Sam Billings retained the club captaincy that he was first awarded in 2018. ^[8] Billings and vice-captain Joe Denly both spent time away with England squads throughout the season, and so Daniel Bell-Drummond captained the team on several occasions. ^[9]

The delayed start of the season and the resulting loss of income meant that, like many other counties, Kent decided to cancel contracts for their overseas signings. ^[10] New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry had been due to return for the first part of the season after a highly successful spell with the county in 2018. ^{[11] [12]} Meanwhile, Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi had signed to play for the county in the t20 Blast for a second successive year. ^{[13] [14]}

Squad

Batsman Alex Blake signed a new white-ball (limited overs) contract with the county in January 2020, becoming the first homegrown player to sign such a deal with Kent. ^[15]

Departures

Mitchell Claydon left Kent after seven years with the team, to join Sussex at the end of the 2019 season. ^[16] In July 2020, batsman Sean Dickson departed the club to join Durham, initially on loan for the 2020 season. ^[17] On 30 July, wicket-keeper Adam Rouse announced his retirement from cricket at the age of 28, after having played four seasons with Kent. ^[18]

All-rounder Calum Haggett and bowler Ivan Thomas were both released by the club after their contracts expired in October. ^{[19] [20]}

Arrivals

In August 2019, Kent announced that they had signed Yorkshire all-rounder Jack Leaning on a three-year contract from October 2019. ^[21] In September 2019, Kent announced the signings of teenage Afghan-born England Under-19 off-spinner Hamidullah Qadri from Derbyshire on a three-year deal. ^[22] A few days later, the county also announced the signing of 35 year-old seamer Tim Groenewald from Somerset on a two-year deal from 2020. ^[23]

Zimbabwean-born 20-year old fast bowler Nathan Gilchrist, who had yet to play a senior match, joined Kent in August, initially on loan from Somerset ahead of signing a three-year contract. ^[24]

Squad list

• Ages given as of the first day of the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy, 1 August 2020.

No.	Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batsmen
4	Heino Kuhn	South Africa	(1984-04-01)1 April 1984 (aged 36)	Right-handed	—	Kolpak signing
6	Joe Denly	England	(1986-03-16)16 March 1986 (aged 34)	Right-handed	Right arm leg break	Vice-captain
10	Alex Blake	England	(1989-01-25)25 January 1989 (aged 31)	Left-handed	Right arm off break	White-ball contract only [15]
16	Zak Crawley	England	(1998-02-03)3 February 1998 (aged 22)	Right-handed	Right arm medium
23	Daniel Bell-Drummond	England	(1993-08-03)3 August 1993 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right arm medium
34	Jack Leaning	England	(1993-10-18)18 October 1993 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right arm medium/off break
All-rounders
3	Darren Stevens	England	(1976-04-30)30 April 1976 (aged 44)	Right-handed	Right arm medium
9	Grant Stewart	Australia	(1994-02-19)19 February 1994 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right arm medium	EU passport holder
25	Calum Haggett	England	(1990-10-30)30 October 1990 (aged 29)	Left-handed	Right arm medium-fast
55	Marcus O'Riordan	England	(1998-01-25)25 January 1998 (aged 22)	Right-handed	Right arm off break
Wicket-keepers
7	Sam Billings	England	(1991-06-15)15 June 1991 (aged 29)	Right-handed	—	Club captain
21	Ollie Robinson	England	(1998-12-01)1 December 1998 (aged 21)	Right-handed	—
22	Jordan Cox	England	(2000-10-21)21 October 2000 (aged 19)	Right-handed	—
Bowlers
1	Harry Podmore	England	(1994-07-23)23 July 1994 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right arm medium
5	Ivan Thomas	England	(1991-09-25)25 September 1991 (aged 28)	Right-handed	Right arm medium-fast
11	Imran Qayyum	England	(1993-05-23)23 May 1993 (aged 27)	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
17	Nathan Gilchrist	South Africa	(2000-06-11)11 June 2000 (aged 20)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	On loan from Somerset for 2020; UK passport
18	Fred Klaassen	Netherlands	(1992-11-13)13 November 1992 (aged 27)	Right-handed	Left arm medium-fast
29	Matt Milnes	England	(1994-07-29)29 July 1994 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right arm medium-fast
34	Tim Groenewald	England	(1984-01-10)10 January 1984 (aged 36)	Right-handed	Right arm fast-medium
75	Hamidullah Qadri	England	(2000-01-05)5 January 2000 (aged 20)	Right-handed	Right arm off break

Bob Willis Trophy

Matches played in the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy had first-class status, but there were some differences to the playing conditions compared to the County Championship. The minimum number of overs in a day was reduced to 90, the follow-on increased from 150 runs to 200, the new ball was to be available after 90 overs instead of 80, and each team's first innings was restricted to a maximum of 120 overs. ^[25] Kent's first match of the delayed season began on 1 August against Essex at Chelmsford. ^[26]

South Group

Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	D	A	Bat	Bowl	Ded	PCF	Pts
Essex (Q)	5	4	0	0	1	0	6	12	0	0	90
Kent [a]	5	3	1	0	1	0	12	15	1	0	82
Middlesex	5	2	2	0	1	0	8	14	0	0	62
Hampshire	5	2	2	0	1	0	4	13	0	0	57
Surrey	5	1	4	0	0	0	8	12	0	0	36
Sussex [b]	5	1	4	0	0	0	9	11	24	0	12

Source: BBC Sport, ^[29] CricInfo, ^[30] ECB ^[31]
(Q) Qualified for Final
Notes:

1. Kent were deducted 1 point for a slow over rate against Surrey. ^[27]
2. Sussex were deducted 24 points for ball tampering against Middlesex. ^[28]

Matches

1–4 August	Kent	v	Essex (H)	Essex won by 2 wickets
Scorecard	387 (104.3 overs) HG Kuhn 140 (248) JA Porter 4/107 (26 overs)		298 (108.2 overs) RN ten Doeschate 78 (170) ME Milnes 4/46 (20.2 overs)	County Ground, Chelmsford Umpires: BJ Debenham and NL Bainton
	112 (49.1 overs) JM Cox 29 (116) SR Harmer 4/35 (18.1 overs)		202/8 (69.4 overs) AN Cook 66 (116) IAA Thomas 4/32 (8 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to bat Points: Essex 21, Kent 7 JA Leaning and Hamidullah Qadri made their Kent debuts

8–10 August	Sussex	v	Kent (H)	Kent won by an innings and 25 runs
Scorecard	332 (94.3 overs) BC Brown 98 (175) HW Podmore 4/85 (23.3 overs)		530/1 (120 overs) JM Cox 238* (345) ME Claydon 1/86 (24 overs)	St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: NJ Llong and M Newell
	173 (46.1 overs) HZ Finch 66 (98) DI Stevens 5/50 (15 overs)
Sussex won the toss and chose to bat Points: Kent 24, Sussex 3 TD Groenewald made his Kent debut JM Cox scored his maiden first-class century, and double century (238 not out), [32] [33] and JA Leaning also scored his maiden double century (220 not out) [34] The unbeaten partnership of 423 runs between JM Cox and JA Leaning was a Kent record in first-class cricket [35] Kent's score of 530/1 was the fourth highest single wicket score in global first-class cricket [35]

15–18 August	Middlesex	v	Kent (H)	Match drawn
Scorecard	269 (108 overs) RG White 99 (220) DI Stevens 5/79 (31 overs)		191 (49 overs) JL Denly 89 (154) ML Cummins 5/62 (19.1 overs)	St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: NL Bainton and NJ Llong
	169/1d (40 overs) SD Robson 82* (143) MK O'Riordan 1/42 (8 overs)		70/0 (14 overs) MK O'Riordan 34* (41)
Kent won the toss and elected to field Only 9.3 overs were bowled on day one, and only a further 52 overs on day two due to rain Points: Kent 11, Middlesex 13

22–25 August	Kent	v	Surrey (H)	Kent won by 17 runs
Scorecard	342 (103.1 overs) G Stewart 58 (103) AW Finch 4/69 (23.1 overs)		278 (91.4 overs) BT Foakes 118 (188) DI Stevens 3/45 (25 overs)	The Oval, London Umpires: NL Bainton and NJ Llong
	127 (46.5 overs) JM Cox 32 (74) R Clarke 5/20 (14 overs)		174 (48.1 overs) BT Foakes 57 (131) DI Stevens 4/41 (13 overs)
Surrey won the toss and chose to field Points: Surrey 5, Kent 22 NN Gilchrist made his first-class debut Kent were later deducted one point due to a slow over rate. [27]

6–9 September	Hampshire	v	Kent (H)	Kent won by 7 wickets
Scorecard	191 (75 overs) IG Holland 42 (69) DI Stevens 5/37 (27 overs)		170 (61 overs) MK O'Riordan 37 (82) SW Currie 3/42 (13 overs)	St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: NJ Llong and BV Taylor
	159 (64.1 overs) TAR Scriven 68 (132) HW Podmore 5/43 (23 overs)		185/3 (41.5 overs) Z Crawley 105 (100) AS Dale 1/22 (5 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to field. Points: Kent 19, Hampshire 3

t20 Blast

South group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Surrey	10	7	1	1	1	16	0.651
2	Sussex Sharks	10	6	3	0	1	13	0.377
3	Kent Spitfires	10	5	3	1	1	12	0.108
4	Middlesex	10	3	5	1	1	8	−0.296
5	Essex Eagles	10	2	6	1	1	6	−0.003
6	Hampshire	10	2	7	0	1	5	−0.803

Updated to match(es) played on 20 September 2020. Source: BBC Sport, ^[36] England and Wales Cricket Board ^[37]

Matches

27 August	Hampshire 139/6 (20 overs)	v	Kent (H) 52/0 (4.1 overs)	No result
Scorecard				St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: NJ Llong and M Newell
	JJ Weatherley 68 (49) ME Milnes 3/19 (4 overs)		DJ Bell-Drummund 28* (16)
Kent won the toss and chose to field No further play was possible due to rain Points: Kent 1, Hampshire 1

29 August	Middlesex (H) 209/4 (20 overs)	v	Kent 209/5 (20 overs)	Match tied
Scorecard				Lord's, London Umpires: NL Bainton and BJ Debenham Player of the match: DJ Bell-Drummund (Kent)
	SS Eskinazi 84 (52) FJ Klaassen 2/50 (4 overs)		DJ Bell-Drummund 72 (32) ST Finn 2/34 (4 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to field Points: Middlesex 1, Kent 1

1 September	Surrey 161/4 (20 overs)	v	Kent (H) 162/5 (18.3 overs)	Kent won by 5 wickets
Scorecard				St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: NJ Llong and M Newell Player of the match: HG Kuhn (Kent)
	HM Amla 75 (56) TD Groenewald 2/31 (4 overs)		HG Kuhn 42* (31) D Moriarty 3/25 (4 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to field Points: Kent 2, Surrey 0

3 September	Kent 195/5 (20 overs)	v	Sussex (H) 194/7 (20 overs)	Kent won by 1 run
Scorecard				County Cricket Ground, Hove Umpires: M Newell and BV Taylor Player of the match: Z Crawley (Kent)
	Z Crawley 67 (49) GHS Garton 2/31 (4 overs)		LJ Wright 40 (20) Imran Qayyum 2/27 (4 overs)
Sussex won the toss and chose to field Points: Sussex 0, Kent 2

5 September	Kent 192/6 (20 overs)	v	Essex (H) 163/7 (20 overs)	Kent won by 29 runs
Scorecard				The Oval, London Umpires: BJ Debenham and IJ Gould Player of the match: DJ Bell-Drummond (Kent)
	DJ Bell-Drummond 81 (45) SR Harmer 2/21 (4 overs)		RN ten Doeschate 42 (24) Imran Qayyum 3/25 (4 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to bat Points: Kent 2, Essex 0

12 September	Kent (H) 141/8 (20 overs)	v	Sussex 145/2 (15.4 overs)	Sussex won by 8 wickets
Scorecard				St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: IJ Gould and NJ Llong Player of the match: DMW Rawlins (Sussex)
	JL Denly 32 (17) DR Briggs 3/27 (4 overs)		DMW Rawlins 62* (33) JL Denly 1/19 (3 overs)
Sussex win the toss and chose to field Points: Kent 0, Sussex 2

14 September	Hampshire (H) 182/6 (20 overs)	v	Kent 183/2 (17.1 overs)	Kent won by 8 wickets
Scorecard				Ageas Bowl, Southampton Umpires: M Newell and BV Taylor Player of the match: Z Crawley (Kent)
	James Fuller 50* (23) FJ Klaassen 1/24 (3 overs)		Z Crawley 108* (54) IG Holland 1/27 (2.1 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to field. Points: Hampshire 0, Kent 2 Z Crawley scored his first Twenty20 century [38]

16 September	Middlesex 184/6 (20 overs)	v	Kent (H) 182/7 (20 overs)	Middlesex won by 2 runs
Scorecard				St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: NL Bainton and NJ Llong Player of the match: LBK Hollman (Middlesex)
	JB Cracknell 50 (22) Imran Qayyum 1/21 (4 overs)		DJ Bell-Drummond 89 (54) TJ Murtagh 2/23 (4 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to field Points: Kent 0, Middlesex 2

18 September	Essex 167/9 (20 overs)	v	Kent (H) 171/6 (19.4 overs)	Kent won by 4 wickets
Scorecard				St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: NJ Llong and MJ Saggers Player of the match: JA Leaning (Kent)
	RN ten Doeschate 52 (33) FJ Klaassen 3/36 (4 overs)		JA Leaning 55* (32) JH Plom 3/32 (3.4 overs)
Essex won the toss and chose to bat Points: Kent 2, Essex 0

20 September	Kent 159/8 (20 overs)	v	Surrey (H) 161/4 (18.4 overs)	Surrey won by 6 wickets
Scorecard				The Oval, London Umpires: IJ Gould and NJ Llong Player of the match: LJ Evans (Surrey)
	SW Billings 50 (33) LE Plunkett 3/19 (4 overs)		LJ Evans 73 (45) G Stewart 2/28 (3.4 overs)
Surrey won the toss and chose to field Points: Surrey 2, Kent 0

Quarter-final

1 October	Surrey (H) 169/2 (20 overs)	v	Kent 113/7 (20 overs)	Surrey won by 56 runs
Scorecard				The Oval, London Umpires: NGB Cook and MJ Saggers Player of the match: WG Jacks (Surrey)
	HM Amla 73* (53) Imran Qayyum 2/34 (4 overs)		JA Leaning 34 (28) WG Jacks 4/15 (4 overs)
Kent won the toss and chose to bat

References

1. "Domestic season delayed until 1 August because of coronavirus". BBC Sport. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
2. "Counties vote to play red and white ball cricket when season starts on 1 August". BBC Sport. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
3. "Counties could be offered opt-out as Hampshire express red-ball reservations". ESPN Cricinfo. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
4. "First-class counties to compete for Bob Willis Trophy". ESPN Cricinfo. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
5. "Allan Donald: South Africa Test legend to leave Kent at season's end". BBC Sport. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
6. "Cook relishing new role as Bowling Coach". Kent County Cricket Club. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
7. "Mike Yardy: Kent appoint former England one-day all-rounder as batting coach". BBC Sport. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
8. "Sam Billings: England limited-overs player replaces Sam Northeast as Kent captain". BBC Sport. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
9. "Kent batsman Bell-Drummond leads way as Kent tie with Middlesex in Vitality Blast thriller at Lord's". The Times. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
10. "Counties remain hopeful of two overseas players for 2021". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
11. "Matt Henry: Kent re-sign New Zealand paceman for start of 2020 season". BBC Sport. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
12. "Matt Henry: Kent cancel deal for New Zealand pace bowler". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
13. "Mohammad Nabi: Afghanistan all-rounder to rejoin Kent for T20 Blast". BBC Sport. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
14. "Mohammad Nabi: Kent T20 return cancelled after coronavirus delay". BBC Sport. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
15. "Alex Blake: Kent batsman signs new white-ball deal until 2022". BBC Sport. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
16. "Mitch Claydon: Kent seamer to leave after seven years for Sussex in 2020". BBC Sport. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
17. "Sean Dickson: Durham sign opener from Kent". BBC Sport. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
18. "Rouse retires from cricket". Kent County Cricket Club. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
19. "Calum Haggett: Kent all-rounder to leave after seven years with club". BBC Sport. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
20. "Ivan Thomas: Kent release fast bowler". BBC Sport. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
21. "Jack Leaning: Kent sign Yorkshire batsman on three-year contract from 2020". BBC Sport. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
22. "Hamidullah Qadri: Kent sign Derbyshire & England U19 off-spinner on three-year contract". BBC Sport. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
23. "Tim Groenewald: Seamer leaves Somerset to join Kent on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
24. Nathan joins Kent ^{[ dead link ]}, Somerset County Cricket Club, 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
25. "Everything you need to know about the Bob Willis Trophy". England and Wales Cricket Board. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
26. "Bob Willis Trophy fixtures 2020: Full schedule, dates, matches". The Cricketer. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
27. "Bob Willis Trophy: Kent deducted one point for slow over-rate". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
28. "Sussex deducted 24 points in Bob Willis Trophy after ball-tampering charge". SkySports.com. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
29. Bob Willis Trophy Table, BBC Sport.
30. Bob Willis Trophy 2020, CricInfo.
31. Bob Willis Trophy Tables, England and Wales Cricket Board.
32. "Cox chuffed with maiden ton". Kent Sports News. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
33. "Bob Willis Trophy: Cox & Leaning centuries put Kent in front against Sussex". BBC Sport. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
34. "Darren Stevens skewers Sussex after Jordan Cox, Jack Leaning run-bonanza". ESPN Cricinfo. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
35. "Kent seal emphatic innings win as records fall". Kent County Cricket Club. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
36. Vitality Blast tables, BBC Sport.
37. All County Tables, ECB.
38. "T20 Blast: Zak Crawley ton as Kent win, Surrey top South Group and wins for Essex & Lancs". BBC Sport. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

External links

• Kent home at ESPN cricinfo
• Kent County Cricket Club official site