KENT will go into their final game of the season without pace bowler Martin Saggers and their locum overseas batsman Michael Bevan.

Saggers was due to see a knee specialist this week in a bid to resolve the patella tendonitis that has sidelined him for the last six weeks of the summer.

He said: “It’s not all gloom and doom for sure. I’ve spoken to other players who’ve had this same injury, like Trevor Penney and Steffan Jones, they both took two months to get over it. I’ve been out six weeks, sure it’s been frustrating, but I just need a bit more rest and should be fit for next season.”

Saggers will not play in the season’s finale against Middlesex starting next Thursday, September 16 and there will be no place for Tasmania’s left-hander Bevan either. He has been allowed to return home to Australia after a disappointing stint as locum for Andrew Symonds.

Bevan played just 11 matches in his time at Kent, scoring one half-century on championship debut in Southgate and a further 52 in what proved his totesport League farewell in Colchester.

Kent will hope Amjad Khan will recover from an ankle injury in time to lead a pace attack that will include rookies Simon Cusden and Robbie Joseph, who have both impressed skipper David Fulton in recent weeks.

“I have to say injuries in the squad never get me down because as a team we are in the building phase and the odd injury gives me chance to find more about these young guys sooner than I might otherwise have done,” said Fulton.

“We beat Sussex and Northamptonshire with inexperienced attacks and landed our first two wins of the summer with no overseas players in the side, and that has to bode well for the future.”

The immediate future for Kent members is that they will need to dig deeper into their pockets for next season. The club announced their new membership rates this week with an approximate 10 per cent increase in four categories.

Student, junior and associate rates stay the same, but a single membership has risen £11 to £110. Family membership rates have increased by £24 to £264, while a member and can rate is now £182.

The club are quick to point out, however, that their membership rates place them 14th cheapest out of the 18 first-class counties based on this season’s comparisons.