Kent's Adams turns thoughts towards T20

By Mark Pennell

Though understandably disappointed by his side’s shock Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat to the part-timers of the Unicorns, Kent’s head coach Jimmy Adams is already turning his thoughts to masterminding his first FLt20 campaign since joining the county in March.

“We’ll take what time we can to practice for Twenty20 but, as everyone understands, there isn’t a lot of space in the schedule for that,” said the former West Indies Test batsman.
 
“The time will be limited going into our first match but, once we get that one out of the way, there will be blocks of time thereafter to focus exclusively on t20 cricket.

“We’ll be coming out of a CB40 match with Northamptonshire and a County Championship match with Hampshire in Tunbridge Wells and I will have just one day to set up for t20, which isn’t ideal. That also means we’ll have to arrange separate t20 sessions for those not playing at Tunbridge Wells.

"It isn’t ideal for sure, and it is something of a balancing act, but we’re not the only team facing the challenge of asking players to pull their minds around to think of a totally different format while playing in the middle of a four-day match. To me, it’s all down to clear thinking and good attitude."
 
Though Kent appear to be giving youth its head for the CB40 format, Adams remains tight-lipped over his thinking on selection ahead of their t20 opener with Sussex at The Nevill Ground on June 12.

He added: “I will steer away from talking about the make-up of our Twenty20 side because until we put a squad together 48 hours the opening game I want to believe that every player contracted to Kent will be doing their utmost to fight for a place in that squad.

“All I will say at the moment is that Azhar Mahmood will be back as soon as his commitments in the IPL in India come to an end, which all depends on how well his team franchise is doing. I hope to understand more in the next 10 days and will talk to Azhar about things.
 
“He is one of the better players in the world in this format, so it would be really good to have him back for Kent as soon as possible, but clearly we have to plan that around his IPL commitments and, of course, take the potential fatigue factor into account too.”


Date: 21/05/2012 18:26:36 by Mark Pennell
In: Today | Kent |