Ageless cricketer Darren Stevens 'buzzing' ahead of 26th season

Kent cricketer Darren Stevens made his debut in first-class cricket before Tony Blair became British prime minister. A quarter of a century later he shows no signs of slowing down.

Stevens, 46 later this month, is bouncily optimistic as he prepares for the start of his 26th season in the English county game on Thursday, despite icy spring temperatures and snow flurries.

The all-rounder, who began his career with Leicestershire in 1997, has enjoyed some of his finest moments in recent years with both bat and ball.

He hit a career-best 237 against Yorkshire in 2019 and the following season took 29 wickets at an eye-catching average of just over 15.5 in the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy.

Cricketing "bible" Wisden recognised his feats in 2021, naming him as one of its cricketers of the year.

The ageless Stevens showed he had lost none of his magic touch last year - smashing 15 sixes in a barnstorming innings of 190 and later in the season helping Kent win the Twenty20 Blast for a second time.

So what motivates the Leicester-born player, who narrowly missed out on winning an England cap?

"The game itself," he tells AFP, sitting on a bench at Kent's Canterbury home ground dedicated to his late father, Bob Stevens.

"It's a beautiful game, it's an amazing game. For us, we're classed as entertainers so you put on a show. Who doesn't love putting on a show?

"I'm passionate about the game and I just love batting and I love bowling."

Stevens enjoyed a successful stint with England's second-tier Lions team in a 2010 triangular series against India A and West Indies A, averaging nearly 80 with the bat.

But he never received a full international cap whereas other players alongside him in that team, including Alastair Cook and Chris Woakes, went on