Kent fast bowler Nathan Gilchrist on being surrounded by other talented players - including house-mate Tawanda Muyeye

Fast bowler Nathan Gilchrist admits it feels nice to be surrounded by other talented young Kent players - including his house-mate!

Gilchrist extended his deal until the end of next season at the start of the year, shortly after he had earned an England Lions call-up.

Fellow 22-year-old players Hamid Qadri and Tawanda Muyeye have also committed their futures to the county while all-rounder Joey Evison, 21, is now a permanent Kent player after a successful loan stint.

“I think it’s always nice to have people of similar ages around you,” Gilchrist said. “We have quite a big group of young players now, really talented players.

“It’s exciting from a cricket point of view moving forward into the future because, hopefully, us as a young group of players can bring a lot of success to the club.

“I live with Tawanda, as well. So it’s ideal he’s signed a long-term deal, although he does annoy me sometimes!

“But we get along really well and it’s great he’s signed, so I can spend a lot more time with him.”

Gilchrist enjoyed his first experience with the Lions in Sri Lanka and felt the tour helped improve him.

He said: “I definitely left Sri Lanka a better bowler than I was when I first got there.

"That’s exactly what I wanted to do.

“There are lots of people to learn from, everyone around me was very experienced, and I also got used to conditions in Sri Lanka because I’d never been there before.

“The sub-continent is very different from English conditions, especially at this time of year, so it was a very good experience overall.”

Gilchrist was born in Zimbabwe but didn’t think twice when he got the England call. He hopes to earn a place with the full national side one day.

“I have been committed to English cricket since I’ve been