Stevens signs new deal with Kent

Darren Stevens will continue his Kent career at the age of 41 next season after agreeing a new one-year deal with the county.

Stevens, who was awarded a benefit year in 2016, had been out of contract at the end of the season, but demonstrated his enduring worth with a strong all-round showing to help the club finish second in Division Two of the County Championship.

"Darren has given so much to Kent that all along we have wanted him to remain with us and are delighted that he has made that decision," said Graham Johnson, Kent's chairman of cricket.

"I'm sure all Kent supporters will greet the news with delight, help him round off his benefit year in style and look forward to his contribution to further develop what has been achieved to date."

In the first-class season, Stevens made 782 runs at 48.87, and claimed 37 wickets at 30.56. He also made a strong case for his retention with an innings of 136 in Kent's final game of the season, against the Division Two champions, Essex.

After that match, Stevens said: "I love this place and I don't want to go anywhere else, so my hope is that we can sort something out because I feel I've still got two years left in me. I still have passion for the club and for these lads and I want to be successful, so we'll have to see what happens.

"I always love scoring runs and get more satisfaction from scoring runs being that Kent signed me as a batsman. I've obviously turned myself into a bit of an all-rounder in the meantime, but my main job is to get runs and the past couple of months have been pretty enjoyable in that regard."