Balcombe Returns to do Battle with Old Friends

Full squad and match preview for Hampshire's LV= County Championship match against Kent at Tunbridge Wells

Kent v Hampshire
LV= County Championship
Wed 6 – Sat 9 June (11am start)
The Neville, Tunbridge Wells

Hampshire travel to Kent for their final LV= County Championship match before the on-set of the Friends Life t20 competition; they won’t play another four-day match until the end of the T20 tournament’s group stages.

And they come up against a team that has performed similarly to themselves, having won two matches so far this season. Both teams are pushing for a win to put pressure on a Derbyshire side that, whatever their result at Leicestershire, will head-up the Division Two table going into the second half of the season.

For Hampshire, Bilal Shafayat looks set to be given his first start since signing a one-year contract as fellow batsman James Vince is rested for the trip. Shafayat was drafted into the squad for the South Coast side’s rain-affected match against the league-leaders and made an instant impression, scoring 93 in his single innings and putting on a partnership of 164 for the second wicket with captain Jimmy Adams. 

Dimitri Mascarenhas, too, is in the running for a first Championship start having performed well in the three Clydesdale Bank 40 matches he has played since his return from the Indian Premier League.

And the Division’s leading wicket-taker, David Balcombe returns to the county where he took 33 wickets in five County Championship games (including four five-wicket hauls) when on loan at the tail end of last season. His old colleagues won’t be happy to see him return, especially in such good form too!

For Kent, all-rounder Matt Coles is looking good with both the bat (averaging 42) and ball (28 wickets) so far this season while Brendan Nash (371 runs) and Mike Powell (363 runs) have been scoring runs aplenty of late. They also come into the match off the back of a huge innings and 279-run demolition of Leicestershire at Canterbury.

But, the venue for this match - The Neville at Tunbridge Wells - could prove something of a leveller, as outgrounds tend to be. The two teams did play a T20 match there last season but due to rain it was reduced to five overs per side, so not much chance to get a read on the conditions.

Watch out for England spinner James Tredwell there though. He took five wickets at The Neville last year and has scored two of only three First-Class hundreds there too.

Balcombe said; "It's going to be good, playing against some of the guys I played with last year. I'm sure there'll be a few funny comments flying about when I walk out to bat or when I'm bowling against them, but I'm looking forward to it.

"They're going to know how I look to go about my stuff and I kind of have an idea of how they like to go about their stuff but it's quite an even playing field once you get out there and the game starts. It's just down to whether you can execute your skills and come out on top."

Click on the audio file below to hear the full interview: 

 

Full Squad: 

(3) Simon Katich	(19) Danny Briggs
(4) Jimmy Adams*	(21) James Tomlinson
(7) Sean Ervine	(25) Chris Wood
(8) Liam Dawson	(33) Kabir Ali
(15) Michael Carberry	(46) Bilal Shafayat
(16) Michael Bates†	(84) David Balcombe
(17) Dimitri Mascarenhas

Keep Up: 

Click here to find out how to follow all the action live. Additional to the usual coverage there will also be a live ball-by-ball commentary from Hospital Radio Tunbridge Wells, which can be heard at www.hrtw.org.uk. You can also get live updates sent direct to your mobile phone by texting “FOLLOW @HantsCricket” to 86444 (charges may apply).

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Words: Simon Vincent
Images: LMI Photography

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