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Matt Walker insists that Kent Spitfires’ defeat at Surrey in the T20 group stages will count for little in their quarter-final clash.
Kent visit The Oval on Thursday with a place at finals day up for grabs. Spitfires suffered a comprehensive six-wicket reverse in their final group match against Surrey less than a fortnight ago.
But Walker says that means nothing when the teams lock horns again.
“Each game is very different in this format,” said Walker. “It doesn’t matter what has happened before. It’s a new game, new conditions and everyone is going to be up for it.
“We talk about all of our T20 games in a debrief but you don’t want to over-analyse sometimes.
“On the day, we were probably 15-20 runs short, we should have got 175 in the end and that probably was the difference.
“They had two players that were in and if we had got one of them out in the powerplay it might have been a different game but that’s T20. It’s all about playing those big moments and putting pressure on the opponents.
“We know that we weren’t quite at our best. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t worry about them too much. We’ll do our usual preparation and come out with a plan for our bowlers and batters, and be ready. It’s about making sure everyone is confident in their plans.
“It’s a fast-moving game, you have to adapt quickly and you hope that one or two of your players have a great day out and make the difference – that’s all it takes.
“We’re very excited to get to the quarter-final. We know Surrey very well. They know what we are about and we’ve had a lot of success in recent years, especially at The Oval.
“We’ve got the ingredients to win this game, we’ve just got to make sure that we are better than last time.”
Without an overseas player, it’s certainly been a season for Kent’s youthful squad to develop. As with other counties, fringe players have had more chances to shine than might have been anticipated during a regular summer.
Without any bowling imports, Kent have had to rely on a largely inexperienced attack. But they have come of age at a time when Walker has needed them most.
“It was good to get out of the South Group in T20, that’s a great achievement in itself,” reflected Walker.
“It’s a tough group and, apart from Hampshire, everyone was pushing to qualify. The fact three teams got through to the quarter-finals shows how strong it was. I know that we’ve got a talented group and we should be pushing for quarter-finals and finals day.
“It’s a great achievement with such a young bowling attack. Some are playing their first few games in this format, Matt Milnes played once last year, Grant Stewart played twice, and Fred Klaassen is only in his second year as a professional here.
“It’s great to see this group flourishing. Last year we had three experienced bowlers in Hardus Viljoen, Adam Milne and Mohammad Nabi so that was 12 of our 20 overs – that meant one or two young players weren’t playing. That’s fine and they have to be patient.
“But this year it’s a different situation with no overseas players. It’s been helpful to give players opportunities and I’ve really enjoyed seeing them succeed and learn in the team.
“As a group they worked very hard over the winter with their cricket programmes. A lot of that was white-ball based and on variations. They were starting to develop it and it’s about nailing that execution now through practice.
“It’s great to see them get their rewards even though it’s hard to escape in T20 some days when you’re going to go as there is no hiding place, it’s a ruthless format if someone is going to take you down.
“But we saw them improve with every game and they’ve gained in confidence and belief, each game they grow that bit more.
“For them to have played nine or 10 games is a big step in their learning and the benefit for us is massive. It gives us great confidence that these guys are able to do it in the future.
“One of the highlights for me this summer has been watching them grow up in this competition and learn to deal with the pressure.”
