Billings takes satisfaction in epic show of restraint

Gloucestershire 221 and 34 for 4 (Stevens 3-11) trail Kent 533 for 6 dec (Billings 171, Stevens 140) by 278 runs
Scorecard

"Look, if you bought Stones tickets and Jagger didn't play Satisfaction, how would you feel? Would you be happy?"

So asks Dustin Hoffman of Jon Favreau in the film Chef: the former a restauranteur desperate to turnaround an ailing business - the latter a chef searching for a deeper meaning to life. Favreau says no. Hoffman agrees: "You'd burn the place to the f****ng ground!"

The reverse sweep is Sam Billings' "Satisfaction": a hit he has at his fingertips, able to be unleashed at any time. Fans go into games expecting him to play it and many leave disappointed when he doesn't. It has become synonymous with his name: "Billings" and "reverse sweep" together paints a very vivid picture of quick footwork and faster hands, in one smooth yet devastating movement.

But Billings is keen to show that, particularly in red-ball cricket, he is so much more than a player who panders to the New Age crowd. Speaking at stumps, after striking 171 from 202 balls for his third first-class hundred - a second for Kent - he was in reflective mood: "You don't want to play the way people think you should play, or just allow people to talk about you in just one way. Actually, sometimes I want to be the one that can grit it out and stand up. I'm not just going to panic and bring out the sweep."

Together, he and Darren Stevens stood higher than any other, as they amassed Kent's highest fifth-wicket stand in Championship cricket, beating a previous best of 254 set way back in 1910 against Lancashire in Tunbridge Wells, with shots that might have caused fainting in the aisles. Even umpire Alex Wharf made the point to Billings at the non-striker's end - rarely will you see two attacking players go blow for blow without offering a chance or two for the 49.2 overs they batted. Stevens would be the first of the pair to offer one, departing to a catch at slip from Michael Klinger off the bowling of Craig Miles. By then, he had contributed 140 of the 258 partnership and Billings was comfortable in three figures.

He got to his hundred, in only his third innings this season, off his 128th ball, patting the ball around until 99 before beating midwicket with a wristy flick over the fielder's head for four. A couple of delays for rain and bad light saw him start again with Will Gidman, who notched a half-century against his former club, as Billings brought out the classic hits for the afternoon set, as Jack Taylor was strummed easily through backward point for an array of fours, each as risk-free as the last.

That is the key with Billings' reverse sweep. It is a shot he has mastered through hours and sweat. It is so much more than a party trick. It is the culmination of the very best of him as a talented, hard-working cricketer.

Unsurprisingly, he is forthright about its misrepresentation: "The old-school view on it is that it's a dodgy shot to hit. I hit that shot probably better than my normal sweep. And I'd definitely back myself against an off-spinner to hit a reverse sweep than a cover drive, for instance. People might say, 'oh, stop being ridiculous'. But if you're not going to have a point there, I'll play it every ball." By the end of Taylor's 15 overs, which went for 100 runs, he only had two fielders in the inner ring.

Billings has been on at his coaches to bat him at No.5 for the last year or so. He believes he is capable of scoring big hundreds and, by his own admission, "should have got a double today". He came within an inch of uppercutting his own stumps when he galloped down the crease and failed to beat Liam Norwell at mid off to depart for a first-class best of 171.

What was noticeable during his innings was that his judgement and base seem in a sound place. For that, he gives thanks to the Championship, which has forced him to address some bad habits that he can hide in limited-overs cricket. "My basics haven't been quite there in the last six months. And that's just the nature of playing Twenty20 and one-day cricket the whole time: things just creep in."

One of the elements encroaching into Billings' game was a more open stance. He wondered out loud to Kent coach Matt Walker if that was the case. Daniel Bell-Drummond, who has spent close to a decade with Billings, answered on Walker's behalf: "without a doubt. Even since the winter!" The last fortnight has been spent redressing that issue.

"As disappointing as it is not to be in the ODIs, it's been a blessing in disguise. That's been the most pleasing thing - I made a conscious effort to work on something technical and it has bared fruit this innings."

Once the final rain delay came, Kent skipper Sam Northeast decided to call off the innings, declaring at the tea interval with a lead of 312. And so, Stevens amplified the noise for a new contract with an array of deliveries moving in before undoing Gloucestershire's top order with the odd one moving out. Chris Dent gave him an easy return catch, Will Tavare left incorrectly outside off stump before Klinger covered his stumps but nicked off to Matt Coles, via a deflection of Billings, at first slip.

Tomorrow should bring fewer interruptions and, with six wickets still to get, the stage is set for Kent to complete a comprehensive innings victory.