KENT County Cricket Club's walking wounded players are bidding to help their struggling team-mates by taking on scouting missions to report on opposing county teams.

In the past week long-term casualties David Fulton and Min Patel have spied on both Essex and Middlesex in an effort to give their colleagues a few tips and pointers.

Fulton videotaped some of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy tie between Essex and the Essex Cricket Board, while Patel went on a scouting mission to Lord’s to watch Middlesex ahead of this week’s championship clash in Canterbury.

"Min and I are both desperately keen to do what we can while we’re not playing and, after a slow start for the team, this seems an excellent way of putting us to good use," said skipper Fulton.

"If we were a football club we’d have a massive staff with coaches to go and do this sort of thing but we haven’t. It’s generally accepted practise in soccer, so I was happy to nip up to Chelmsford while Min doesn’t live that far from Lord’s.

"Who knows if we will reap the rewards from this, but if you find one little weakness that may get a batsman out then that could be the difference between us winning a game or not."