2014 review: Second XI
Friday 2nd January 2015
A total of 32 players were used in the 2nd XI championship with first team squad players and Academy scholars supported by Minor Counties and overseas prospects.
Kent finished ninth place in the Championship, third in the Trophy table and third in their T20 group.
Batsmen
Alex Blake top-scored with 480 runs in six Championship games at an average of 53.33 with a top score of56 not out against Northants.
Chris Piesley was the most prolific batsman in the Second Eleven Championship with a total of 941 runs in 12 matches for Kent, Sussex and MCC Young Cricketers.
He scored 388 runs and took three wickets in four Championship matches and 452 runs in 11 Trophy innings which helped him earn the national Second XI player of the year award.
Fabian Cowdrey excelled in the Trophy with two 50s in five matches, 162 runs at an average of 32.4 and took three wickets at 35.66 runs each.
Kent vice-captain Sam Northeast regained form after plundering 450 runs in two matches before earning a first team recall to become Kent’s most prolific batsman in all formats.
Australian batsman Nick Selman scored 273 runs in eight Championship innings and 73 runs in two Trophy innings.
Former Somerset 2nds batsman Will Sobczak scored two fifties in four Championship innings at an average of 49.
Former Kent Under-17 batsman Alex Williams played four innings with a best of 46 not out against Middlesex at Maidstone after a trial at Leicestershire.
Former Essex batsman Sam Arthurton made 72 runs at average of 36 in three innings.
Wicketkeepers
Ryan Davies earned a professional contract with 309 championship runs and 95 Trophy runs including half-centuries against MCC Universities, Surrey (two), Gloucestershire and Unicorns.
The 18-year-old Kent Cricket Academy graduate will join the first team squad as understudy to Sam Billings in 2015.
Geraint Jones signed off his fine Kent career with 140 Championship runs at an average of 35 and 42 runs in one Trophy game either side of a loan spell at Gloucestershire.
Zimbabwe-born gloveman Adam Rouse who made his first-class debut for Hampshire against Kent, hit a fine 58 not out against Gloucestershire to salvage a draw in his only Kent appearance.
Teenage Belgian international wicketkeeper Robert Sehmi played eight times last summer, five with the gloves and took six catches and top-scored with 30 not out against Middlesex at Radlett.
All-rounders
Calum Haggett scored 171 runs and took two wickets in six Championship knocks.
The 24-year-old took 10 wickets in three Second Eleven Trophy innings making him the top wicket-taker in the tournament for Kent.
Adam Ball hit 257 runs in ten Championship innings at an average of 36.71 with a top score of 56 not out in the last game at Northamptonshire.
South African all-rounder Gareth Harte made 71 not out and took four wickets versus Middlesex at Maidstone in the Championship.
The 21-year-old from Johannesburg averaged 26 with the bat in eight Championship innings and took five wickets at 22.60.
Former Kent Cricket Academy scholar Michael Waller scored 84 at an average of 14 and current scholar Zac Crawley hit 73 at an average of 18.25.
Bowlers
Charlie Hartley was the fourth highest wicket-taker in the Championship with 28 dismissals at an average of 17.1 with best figures of 5/19 versus Surrey 2nd XI at Polo Farm, Canterbury.
The 20-year-old also claimed six Trophy wickets in four innings at 23 runs each.
Spinner Imran Qayyum took 25 wickets (the eighth most prolific overall) at an average of 24.48 with a best innings of 5/37 versus Sussex 2nds.
In the Trophy, the former Middlesex prospect took seven wickets at 15.57 apiece.
Paceman Robbie Joseph took 19 Championship victims in eleven innings and nine wickets in five Trophy innings.
Fast bowler Matt Hunn took 17 wickets in six Championship appearances at 24.47 runs apiece. His best return was 5/44 v MCC Universities. In the Trophy, he took 3 wickets for 127 (42.33 average).
Ivan Thomas claimed 11 wickets in six Championship innings at an average of 18.27.
Kent Cricket Academy graduate Sam Weller took nine Championship wickets including the prized scalp of England Lions captain Jonathan Trott.
The 20-year-old Oxford Brookes University student from Sidcup earned a pro contract this summer and took a wicket in his sole Trophy appearance.
Seamer David Griffiths took seven Championship wickets at 48.71 and two in two Trophy games.
With the bat, the former Hampshire man hit 52 not out versus Gloucestershire.
Academy prospect Hugh Bernard took six Championship wickets in six innings and took two for 65 in his only Trophy game: dismissing Hampshire 2nds’ Joe Gatting and Liam Dawson.
Surrey second XI seamer Miles Richardson took three wickets for Kent in the same game.
Former Kent Under-17 bowler Nathan Hill also impressed in the eight-wicket win with three wickets.
The 19-year-old's victims included England Under-19 players past and present Michael Bates and Brad Taylor.
Indian slow left armer Rishi Sharath took six wickets in four Twenty20 games, seven Middlesex wickets in a Championship match and a Trophy wicket versus Sussex.
The 22-year-old also played for Berkshire in the Minor Counties Championship.
Australia begin the 2015 Ashes Tour in Canterbury with a four-day match at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
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