Kent v Hampshire

KENT re-call the bowler they have dubbed 'Mr Reliable'- their leading one-day wicket -taker Simon Cook - for their LV Championship match with Hampshire at St Lawrence starting on Wednesday.

Cook was surprisingly dropped for the county's previous four-day game that ended in defeat to Durham, that despite having claimed county-best figures of six for 35 in the side's two-day drubbing of Sussex.

Yet the ex-Middlesex seamer showed great strength of character by bouncing back to claim another four wickets in last Sunday's Trophy win over Glamorgan to clinch his re-call to the championship side.

Explaining the thinking behind the decision to call up Cook ahead of the younger and quicker Robbie Joseph, Kent's director of cricket Graham Ford said: "We went with Robbie up in Durham, but unfortunately he never hit his straps and had a game he'd prefer to forget.

"We felt it was a surface that required a bit of aggression and that his extra bit of pace would give us that, we were also very conscious of keeping the entire bowling unit moving forward, but unfortunately Robbie had a disappointing time."

Ford added: "He's worked really hard since, as players need to in order to get over such setbacks, and ultimately it should help make him a better, stronger cricketer in the long run.

"It is good that we can call on Mr Reliable (Cook), who has bowled brilliantly in the one day stuff this season and I know he's raring to go in the championship.

"Having had a few days off at Riverside he came back with a top performance against Glamorgan at the weekend.

"He's become the leader and something of a father figure in our bowling unit, so it's always good to have Cooky in and around the dressing rooms."

With Australian spinner Shane Warne at the Hampshire helm as skipper, Kent will be hoping for a big crowd for the match which starts at 11am on each of the four days. The hosts seem likely to name Neil Dexter as 12th man.

Kent: Key, Denly, van Jaarsveld, Walker, Stevens, Jones, Hall, Arafat, McLaren, Tredwell, Cook. 12th man: Dexter.