by Andrew Gidley

Sam Northeast is keeping his feet firmly on the ground after South African star Jacques Rudolph tipped him to play for England.

The 22-year-old led Kent against the tourists at Canterbury in the absence of resting Rob Key and starred in two impressive opening stands with 18-year-old Daniel Bell-Drummond, against a full-strength attack, warming up for this week’s First Test at The Oval.

Northeast shook hands on the draw with opposite number Graeme Smith an hour early on Sunday, after completing an unbeaten half-century and must have impressed experienced Rudolph who praised the pair’s composure, tipping him for a future international call-up.

He said: "It is always nice to hear people say things like that but you don’t want to get carried away."

"It was a great honour to captain the side and I thought we did pretty well. We would have liked to get a few more runs in the first innings and had targeted getting between 250-300.

"They bowled well after lunch on the first day but Mike Powell came in and steadied the ship and it was a pity that nobody could stay with him."

Ex-Kent man Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn proved a formidable pace trio and Northeast admitted: "It was difficult to know if they were holding anything back. There wasn’t the intensity of a Test match which could see them find another level but still bowled some decent spells."

Bell-Drummond caught the eye as well, making 40s in both innings, his last appearance before joining team-mate Adam Ball in the England under-19 squad to prepare for the World Cup in Australia next month.

Northeast said: "We don’t want to put too much pressure on him but he is a young guy with a lot of potential,

"It was great to bat together in that final session on Sunday, when the pitch was getting drier."

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