Back in Division One of the County Championship after a stellar 2018, can Kent mix it with the big boys in county cricket this year – or are they doomed to go straight back down?
This county cricket 2019 preview was first published in issue 18 of Wisden Cricket Monthly. Subscribe here.
Kent County Cricket Club
Captain: Sam Billings
Last season: CC2: 2/10; RL50: Runners-up; T20: QF
Transfers in: Fred Klaassen (Ned, EU passport), Matt Milnes (Notts), Matthew Renshaw (Aus), Adam Milne (NZ, T20), Mohammad Nabi (Afg, T20)
Transfers out: Will Gidman, Matt Hunn, James Tredwell (all retired)
Stick on: Darren Stevens
[caption id=”attachment_101897″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
Can the evergreen Darren Stevens continue plundering poles in the top tier?[/caption]
The old stager has terrorised batting line-ups in Division Two for the last decade. Can he repeat the trick in the top tier? Kent will need him to with Kiwi seamer Matt Henry not returning this year.
Wildcard: Daniel Bell-Drummond
[caption id=”attachment_101898″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
Bell-Drummond has struggled in red-ball cricket in recent years[/caption]
Reliably excellent in limited-overs cricket, the 25-year-old has had two dire seasons against the red ball at a point in his career when he should really be kicking on. Coach Matt Walker is hopeful he will prosper on the truer tracks of Division One.
Prediction
CC1: 8/8; RL50: 5/9 South Group; T20: QF
Kent won a higher percentage of games across all formats than any other county last season but they’ll find the going tougher in Division One, especially with Sam Billings and Joe Denly – captain and vice – at the IPL and possibly on England duty later in the summer. Avoiding the drop would be an impressive achievement.
