Kent Cricket Pre-Season Training

Following a few days in sunny Dubai, the Kent Cricket Team returned to the UK for a relaxing windswept and slippery game against Lancashire at Beckenham Cricket Ground!!

I have to say that as Dressing Room Attendant, it’s on days like these that I’m glad to have my job rather than be 30 years younger and half decent at playing the game.

Pre-Season training is strange, the last time you saw them it was still quite warm, there were leaves on the trees and it didn’t really feel it was not cricket time.
Now, in the middle of March, you think the opposite and ‘what in the world are they doing here at this time of the year’ comes to mind.
To make matters worse for them, some have spent a few month’s in sunnier places such as Australia, Asia and the West Indies. Naturally I feel quite sorry for them being stuck in some far off hot land away from everything going on in an average British Winter (!!).

To add to the confusion of the time of year we are in, our Beckenham ground is right next door to the Championship Football Team Crystal Palace’s Training facilities and sitting on the balcony you have a good view of two of our national games being played side by side.
It also reminds you of the changing face of both Sports. Football on one hand being run very much on money and who’s got the most of it does better than the rest. Cricket is also the same in some ways, but depends more on a couple or more of players having either a good day or a bad day more.

All the more reason though for practice and good training. A great Coach for any Sport can help an average Player be a good Player, even a great one as long as they have a natural talent built in somewhere inside.

I think that’s where I went wrong. I’ve always said that the only reason I never played for Kent was I was no good!! But third and fourth eleven for Sevenoaks Vine back in the black and white days of the late 60’s and early 70’s were days to remember.
That was the time when our fist game of Cricket, always against Bidborough, was normally on the day of the FA Cup Final, now it’s all over the shop.

But, Cricket is back and in only another 9 days, Kent will be playing their first Championship game away to Essex. It’s possible it will rain at some stage, highly likely the Fielders will all be clasping their hand warmers and wishing themselves back in Dubai, but it’s good, part of our heritage, almost part of our constitution and what for many who don’t maybe follow Professional Cricket can beat a picnic on a sunny Sunday, sitting on the Village Green listening to leather against willow and dozing off later on with a pint of real English Ale!