There will be a strong fielding focus to the style of play new Kent director of cricket Simon Cook wants to instill. Cook - while admitting Kent play “some good cricket” at present - doesn’t believe there’s exactly a true brand of cricket.
That’s something the 46-year-old is eager to introduce. On his vision of how they should play, Cook said: “It focuses around identifying a brand or a style of cricket that we really want to play. “We play some good cricket at the moment - but I don’t feel there’s necessarily a true brand.
That brand needs to filter down the pathway. “A lot of that comes from fielding, for example. That’ll be one area where I would like to see an upskill is our fielding in the first team and then, obviously, into the second team and down through the pathway. “If we’re creating the best fielders, when you walk into the ground, look up and see the scorecard, you shouldn’t really be able to tell what the score is or where a team is by looking at their body language. “They should all be looking to make an impact - whether that’s taking a catch, making a run out and that’s the sort of messages that we want to try and get down the pathway. “Then, you start to create that belief you can win games from any particular situation.
Fielding is something you do 75 per cent of the time in cricket so it’s definitely something you can control. “We don’t necessarily have to be the most talented batters and bowlers to do that but, if we’re constantly mentally switched on and trying to make a difference in the field, we then have a good chance of coming together as a unit and moving forward. “You are always a stronger side if you have 10 or 11 guys out there and on it versus two batters.” Improvements in fielding is