EXPERIENCED Kent batsman Matthew Walker will hope for an early end to the tedium of sitting on the sidelines by making an early comeback from injury in time for Spitfires' vital Friends Provident Trophy qualifier against Hampshire in Tunbridge Wells on Sunday.

The 33-year-old left-hander is missing the LV Championship clash with Yorkshire in the Royal Spa Town having split his left thumb during the win over Surrey.

He received nine stitches in the wound and was forced to sit out the final three days of the game in Croydon, much to the annoyance of his team-mates.

A habitual practical joker when he has time on his hands, Walker spent the remainder of the Whitgift School game sending spurious text messages from his team-mates' mobile phones while they fielded, tying together their shoelaces, hiding kit and whatever other mischief he could come up with to amuse himself.

So it is probably much to the relief of Kent’s squad that Walker will stay at his home in Whitstable for the first two days of their game with leaders Yorkshire.

Walker explained: "I have a very short attention span and get bored very quickly, so I tend to get into mischief when I'm around the ground with nothing to do."

Walker's career has been mercifully injury-free in recent years and his practical jokes therefore few and far between.

He added: "I've been very lucky throughout my career. In fact, I can hardly remember missing a match in the last four years or so."

Walker will undergo a fitness test on Sunday morning in the hope of playing in Kent's penultimate Trophy qualifier against Hampshire Hawks.

If they can beat Shane Warne's side they will be through to the last four regardless of the result of their final game against Gloucestershire back at The Nevill next Wednesday.