Kent buckle down in pursuit of survival and who-knows-what-else come season’s end
Paul Edwards28-Jun-2022Towards the back of what will always be known as the Peter May Stand at the Kia Oval a small encampment has been created. There is a canopied seating area with open sides and you might call the thing a gazebo if that description did not sound incongruous in an urban setting of concrete and glass. And one hesitates to dub the place a redoubt before checking the definition and finding the following: “a temporary or supplementary fortification, typically square or polygonal and without flanking defences”. That sounds better, not least because those sitting under the canvas clearly have something to defend. “No City Franchises – Save Our Cricket” declares one of their banners. “Peter May Boys” announces another. I think we get the picture. Let’s assume the Boys didn’t contribute to Tom Harrison’s leaving gift.But it would be pleasant if every county’s guardians declared their loyalties so plainly. As one watched 19-year-old Tom Lawes delight both himself and all Surrey supporters by taking two important wickets in successive overs just before lunch and then another shortly after the resumption, it came as a renewed shock to realise that the 18 first-class teams have only a limited idea what they are playing for.Actually, of course, that is not altogether correct. The season is barely half over and a clutch of sides in both divisions have their eyes on their respective titles. Just as significantly, a four-day, first-class match is an intense affair in which the players invest considerable physical and emotional capital. Winning is important and careers depend on the outcome of such games. So Lawes’s joy when he bowled Jack Leaning off the inside edge for 75 and then had Ollie Robinson caught at fine gully by Ryan Patel carried both collective and personal significance. It began a slow collapse that saw Kent lose their last seven wickets for 91 runs and be forced to follow-on 342 runs behind. For his part, Lawes strolled off this great field with figures of 4 for 51 against his name in what is his first Championship match.At the same time, all English seasons since the introduction of two divisions have offered the prospect of promotion and the jeopardy of relegation. This summer, recommendations as to next year’s structure will be made by Andrew Strauss’s high-performance review panel before being polished by a small group of carefully chosen county chief-executives and voted on by the county chairmen in the autumn. Only then might the mere players find out what their professional lives will be like in 2023. You need to be rather arrogant to develop such a plan but no less deranged to blame England’s Ashes defeat on county cricket in the first place. Perhaps someone should ask the ECB’s howl-at-the-moon crazies whether the domestic game is also responsible for the 3-0 victory against New Zealand.In the meantime, Surrey’s players will keep chasing what would be their county’s 20th outright title and Kent’s will keep on keeping on. The visitors’ chances of scoring the 523 they needed to avoid the follow-on were slim this morning but Daniel Bell-Drummond and Leaning had taken their side to 216 for 2 before their 161-run third wicket stand was ended when Bell-Drummond chased a wide offspinner from Will Jacks and skewed a catch to Hashim Amla at point. Lawes then took his first two wickets and induced George Linde to play on after lunch. Apart from Jordan Cox’s 47, the remainder of Kent’s batting never threatened to change the shape of a game the result of which will be dependent on its third innings. However, a mention in dispatches is required for the short leg catch by Ben Geddes off Connor McKerr that dismissed Jaz Singh and ended Kent’s innings. It was an absurdly good right-handed reflex effort and worthy of a more pivotal moment in any match.It was also Surrey’s final wicket of the day. Rather than be overwhelmed by a deficit of 342, Kent’s batted out the remaining 44 overs with some ease, thus leaving Surrey’s bowlers with plenty of work to do on a fourth-day pitch offering them limited assistance. Joe Denly, in only his second Championship innings of the season, is unbeaten on 63 and was the more expansive of the pair; his eight fours included flourished drives and a whack over mid-on against Jacks’ off spin. Ben Compton was more restrained but passed 1000 runs for the season and needs only four runs to reach fifty for the tenth time in 15 first-class innings.The contrast between the pair was beguiling and almost unexpectedly satisfying. Patel bowled the last over and by that time Rory Burns was trying to unsettle the batters with unorthodox fields, the sort some would label “funky”. There was a silly mid-on and silly mid-off posted when the final ball of the day was greeted with Denly’s resolute forward defensive. The players left the field and almost at once one wondered how many opportunities fine cricketers of Compton’s ilk might get should red-ball cricket be reduced to a niche activity, one whose only purpose is the production of Test players rather than also being concerned with the maintenance of strong counties and all the benefits they bring to clubs and communities across the land. Members and supporters around the country are expressing their views and it’s no use thinking it will be easy to find consensus. Me? I’m with Peter May Boys on their redoubt and a few county chairmen might also be receiving their call-up papers quite soon.