Kent Cricket 2024

Pedro45 said:

But we are trying to bring through Jas, Ara, Jaydn, and a few other youngsters too, whatever school they went to.

I've umpired Harrow, KCS Wimbledon, Hampton, Emmanuel, and Tiffin schools this season, plus LSCA, and none of the kids were as good as those at Tonbridge last year (bar one overseas student at Harrow named Matthew Miller, a Jamaican fast bowler very much in the Joffra Archer mould).

Jas came through the Bexley CC system not schools cricket (his school didn't even play cricket) or even the Kent system and his father played State cricket in India. He trialled for many years before at 16 he eventually got into an age group squad. Arafat isn't a youngster and never played age group cricket at Kent. It is as a result playing cricket for Blackheath CC (their captain being head of sport and recreation at Tower Hamlets brought him to the club) and then for SACA after which he got his first contract at the age of 26 last year. SACA are proving how many were missed because they didn't go to the "right" school or play for the "right" club. Jaydn has, of course, connections with the county and the associated "in house" coaching and for those reasons he would have made it (he is only 18 and like Jas has to ultimately prove his worth) so it didn't really matter what school he went to. 

So we do not have not have a single player beyond Jaydn that came through our system on our books below the age of 25 albeit that Cox would have qualified had he stayed (although he too was privately educated). Two seasons ago, Sussex had 17 players that came through their age group system and every single one of them went to a private school. Seb is the only one of two boys from his original age group of 21 boys from U11-U15 at Kent (and the other one was only in the U11 squad) that is currently playing in the Kent PL and neither were privately educated. I could write a book on the reasons why Kent's age group system has struggled, some of which I have already expressed but other aspects aren't for a public forum such as Charlton Life!      

Agar has now hurt himself diving and has left the field. It never ends for us!

Leuth said:

Leuth said:

This is O'Riordan's final FC game tbh. Drink it in

The absolute fuck lmao 

Means he won't be playing against Bickley Park tomorrow.

Agar hasn't come out after lunch. He fell on his shoulder - hopefully he hasn't dislocated it and is just resting for a while. 

To be fair to us, it's not as if we're only team not to take a wicket:

Somerset 104-7
Surrey 104-6
Derbyshire 158-3
Sussex 133-3
Glamorgan 124-2
Yorks 106-1
Essex 121-0

The thing is our bowlers are tight and overall Essex are going at less than 3 an over. We're just not very penetrative. As I type this Cox gets off the mark with a 6!!!

Another wicket to Evison. Critchley LBW

Essex 225-4 off 80.1

287-4 off 96 overs at close. We never let Essex get away but, by the same token, were never on top.

Cox       51* (116)
Pepper  35*  (50)