Key: 'We're one of the best teams in this division'

By Mark Pennell

Kent captain Rob Key described his side’s 222-run win over Division Two title favourites Derbyshire as ‘bloody hard work’ after a spectacular Geraint Jones catch wrapped up a tense triumph early in the game's final hour..

The 21-point success moves Kent to within six of Wayne Madsen’s long-term leaders going into next Tuesday’s final round of games, in which they play Glamorgan in Cardiff.

A relieved Key said : “I thought we would do it easier than that, but Derbyshire really shut up shop, barely played a shot throughout the whole innings and were really hard work to prise out.
 
Once the ball got soft the pitch got very slow, but we just kept plugging away and really had to force every dismissal. There were no caught at cover dismissals or caught on the hook, it was all just bloody hard work.

Key, who had no qualms about including England off-spinner James Tredwell - despite Derbyshire’s protestations - as replacement for rookie spinner Adam Riley on the third morning of the match, said: “Treddy bowled a lot of overs, but didn’t get a wicket. Had they had tried to hit him they would have been risking their wickets, but they just dug a bunker and tried to hang in there because they were in a position where a draw would have really set them up for the title.

“I was very happy he played. He was back here and I wanted him in, it’s really that simple. These replacements aren’t unheard of, they’re commonplace now, and as the oppositions you pretty much have no choice but to get on with it. We had one occasion against Yokshire a few years ago when Matthew Hoggard got called up and Steve Kirby came in and took an eight-for.”

Looking ahead to next week’s clash with Glamorgan at the SWALEC Stadium, where the long range forecast hints at rain, Key added: “We feel we’ve been one of the best teams in this division right the way through and we’ve played well against all the teams who have been up near the top.
 
“We deserve to be where we are and I just hope that next week we don’t have to continue this season’s trend of setting up games due to rain. I don’t like doing it, I don’t think cricket should be played like that, I just prefer a game that ebbs and flows naturally. We’ve had to do it time and time again this year, and I’ll do it again if required, but hopefully it won’t come to that.”        


Date: 08/09/2012 17:11:28 by Mark Pennell
In: Today | Kent |