Post by longhops on Sept 15, 2017 20:48:05 GMT
I thought that as not many "Kentish Exiles" had posted on here recently, I'd set the ball rolling and open a new thread.
At the beginning of the season many on here spoke about the fact that Kent or Sussex could be contesting the 2nd promotion spot after Notts. Here we are with 2 games left and the promotion spots have passed us by again. so where did it all go wrong?
From a Kent perspective we (Kent fans) were encouraged by the signing of Parnell & Harris as it got us off to a good start. Gillespie was "doing things behind the scenes" as well as at the coalface supporting Matt Walker. Many here attribute Kent's "slide to mediocrity" occurred when Gillespie returned home in June. Indeed it was marked by Kent winning against local rivals Sussex at Tunbridge Wells. We then seemed to use up money by signing Shah(Championship) ,Milne & Neesham for the T20 blast. Sadly, we were left wanting in that competition just as we did in 50 over cricket. Now after 2 very average displays we are now facing the fact that our bowling attack cannot take 20 wkts in a game. We have Milne for last 2 games and rumour has it an Indian International bowler for our last games. Why have we not blooded some of our younger bowlers? Are they not regarded as being good enough?
We have a serious lack of back up with our bowlers and the coaches reluctance to play these lads may say something of their opinion of those players. It would seem it is about money. We are no longer a "big" county. We have to admit that we will never be able to compete with some of the "big counties" with Test grounds.
What of Sussex?. Once again they have suffered with injuries at the start of the season. The loss of Magga & Machan was a big problem. They have had a similar season to Kent -Full of promise ,but disappointing. One plus point however is the young bowlers coming through the ranks: Archer and Whittingham It has been great to see Sussex giving these lads a go. I hope that they will be able to kick on next year and push on. My worry is that Kent do not have the bowling stocks that their South coast neighbours have.
The one positive thing form this season has been a non-playing test ground county winning the Championship. Last season with Napier and Masters retiring I feared that Essex would struggle. But they have used their youth with Porter and others to come and win 2 championship trophies in one year. Not a bad achievement for a "small county"
It would be interesting to hear other people's viewpoints. Sorry that this has gone on a bit, but I just wanted to get other views on 2 counties I love and support.
