Kent: Hope at hand as Hooper wings in on return flight (16 April 1998)

16 April 1998

Kent: Hope at hand as Hooper wings in on return flight

By Clive Ellis

CARL Hooper's multi-faceted part in England's Caribbean downfall will have been greeted with a certain parochial satisfaction in Kent.

If there is one sound reason why Kent can convert the painful almosts of last season into at least one trophy this time, it is the return of the impassive Guyanan for his fifth year with the county.

Combine the responsible Hooper of the West Indies' tense run chase in the second Test with the less one-dimensional off-spinner, reliable slip catcher and dynamic one-day performer and you have the constituents of potentially the most influential overseas player on the county circuit.

Curiously, in view of the fact that Kent came so close to winning three of the four main competitions last season, there was an ongoing fragility to their batting which was just about offset by resistance beyond the call of duty from the lower order.

Steve Marsh, the Kent captain, said: "Obviously we were disappointed at the end of last season to have got so close and had no reward, but we feel we've only got to improve two or three per cent to win something this time."

Hooper, who is due to fly in from the West Indies today, can be confidently expected to restore the batting equilibrium, with weight of runs and the ability to score at speed, but unless the rest of the Kent top order find greater consistency, they will be threatened by more disappointment.

Marsh, who brought a positive approach to his first year as captain as well as sustaining his high standards as a batsman/wicketkeeper, admitted: "There are two or three places up for grabs."

David Fulton, who ended his long wait for a maiden championship hundred in the final game of last season, is likely to have Robert Key or Matthew Walker as his opening partner at the start of the campaign.

Key, still a month short of his 19th birthday, was a member of England's Youth World Cup winning side in the winter, and Walker is a much better player than his record last year would suggest.

This, though, could remain Kent's one significant area of weakness - until the immensely promising Ed Smith comes down from Cambridge in July, anyway.

Trevor Ward, Hooper and Alan Wells are pencilled in as three, four and five, leaving Mark Ealham to fill the No 6 slot. Ealham averaged almost 58 for Kent last year and was elevated in the order on England A's tour of Kenya and Sri Lanka, but Kent still see him as the ideal calm presence at six. The bowler with pretensions as a well-organised batsman is making the gradual transition to top-order batsman with medium pace as his accomplished second string.

Ealham, Dean Headley and Matthew Fleming should all have benefited from their winter exposure at international level, even if the one-day optimism engendered by England's success in Sharjah evaporated rather damagingly in the West Indies.

That same big-match experience can only make it less likely that Kent lapse under pressure - as they did in the Benson and Hedges Cup final against Surrey and in the final Sunday League match against Yorkshire.

Injuries did stretch their bowling resources to the limit at times last season. Slow left-armer Min Patel, having rebuilt his fitness in South Africa over the winter, has much to prove after a disappointing 1996 and a 1997 season sacrificed almost entirely to injury.

It was also to the significant detriment of Kent's effectiveness as a bowling side that Headley and Martin McCague, arguably the most potent opening bowling combination in the country, played together in the championship just once after the opening two games. McCague's winter regime has reduced his weight by one and a half stone.

"We're very bullish about this season," Marsh said. "There's a great spirit in the side and the players all want to fight for each other."

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)