Stoinis revives old memories with Kent T20 deal

Kent have announced the signings of New Zealand quick Adam Milne and Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis for their Twenty20 campaign, making it three overseas signings in 24 hours following the capture of another Kiwi pace bowler, Matt Henry.

Milne will return to The Spitfire Ground after an impressive debut T20 season for Kent. He took a club record 5 for 11 against Somerset last summer and topped the bowling averages with 15 wickets at 12.46, conceding just 7.23 runs an over. He will rejoin the Spitfires for the 2018 Vitality Blast, which starts in early July.

"We were really disappointed to come out on the wrong end of so many close matches last summer," he said. "With such a talented squad, we'll be looking to make amends."

Director of cricket Paul Downton said: "Adam had an excellent first season at Kent so we're delighted to secure his services again for 2018. Bowlers of Adam's pace and skill are rare and we believe he can be a match-winner for us in this format."

Kent have also signed Stoinis for this summer's T20 competition. Stoinis played five matches for Kent's second XI in 2012 and will be available for the last nine of the 14 games of the group stage.

A destructive middle-order batsman and medium-fast bowler, Stoinis has gone on to play for Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League and Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League in Australia. It will be his first experience of county cricket.

Henry will be available for the first seven Specsavers County Championship matches and the Royal London One-Day Cup.

He has county experience in the last two years at Worcestershire and Derbyshire and has played two seasons in the Indian Premier League for Chennai Super Kings.

Pace bowling has been a weakness for Kent in recent seasons and that has been exacerbated by the loss of Matt Coles to the champions Essex which leaves Henry with an important role to play.