# Kent County Cricket Club in 2008

In 2008, Kent County Cricket Club competed in Division One of the County Championship, the South-East Division of the 50-over Friends Provident Trophy, Division Two of the NatWest Pro40 and the South Division of the Twenty20 Cup. Kent also hosted a three-day first-class match against the touring New Zealanders and a three-day match without first-class status against Leeds/Bradford UCCE, both at the St Lawrence Ground.
Kent were relegated from Division One of the County Championship, finishing second from bottom. They performed more strongly in limited overs cricket, finishing fourth in Division Two of the NatWest Pro40 and reaching the final of both the Twenty20 Cup and the Friends Provident Trophy, where they were defeated by Middlesex and Essex, respectively. Kent had been the defending champions in the Twenty20 Cup.

## Squad

Former Pakistan international all-rounder Azhar Mahmood signed a contract with Kent in November 2007 and, having recently applied for British citizenship, he would not count as an overseas player. South African all-rounder Justin Kemp, who played for Kent in 2005 and 2006, re-signed for the county on a two-year deal in February as a Kolpak player.
Left-arm spinner Min Patel announced his retirement in February, ending a 19-year career with Kent that included two Test caps for England and a total of 630 first-class wickets.
Neil Dexter signed for Essex on a one-month load in June and this was subsequently extended. After becoming frustrated at a lack of first XI opportunities, Dexter turned down a new contract at the end of the season and went on to sign for Middlesex.
Batsman Matt Walker was released in September after 20 years with Kent, and having made his first-team debut in 1992. Walker went on to sign for Essex. The 2008 season would also be the second and last with Kent for Yasir Arafat, before he re-signed for Sussex.

### Squad list

* Ages given as of the first day of the County Championship season, 16 April 2008.
| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batsmen ||||||
| Alex Blake | England | (1989-01-25)25 January 1989 (aged 19) | Left-handed | Right arm medium-fast | |
| Joe Denly | England | (1986-03-16)16 March 1986 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Right arm leg break | |
| Neil Dexter | England | (1984-08-21)21 August 1984 (aged 23) | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | |
| James Goodman | England | (1990-11-19)19 November 1990 (aged 17) | Right-handed | Right arm medium | |
| Rob Key | England | (1979-05-12)12 May 1979 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right arm off break | Club captain |
| Sam Northeast | England | (1989-10-16)16 October 1989 (aged 18) | Right-handed | Right arm off break | |
| Martin van Jaarsveld | South Africa | (1974-06-18)18 June 1974 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right arm medium / Right arm off break | Kolpak player, vice-captain |
| Matt Walker | England | (1974-01-02)2 January 1974 (aged 34) | Left-handed | Right arm medium | |
| All-rounders ||||||
| Azhar Mahmood | Pakistan | (1975-02-28)28 February 1975 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | British citizen |
| Justin Kemp | South Africa | (1977-10-02)2 October 1977 (aged 30) | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | Kolpak player |
| Ryan McLaren | South Africa | (1983-02-09)9 February 1983 (aged 25) | Left-handed | Right arm medium-fast | Kolpak player |
| Darren Stevens | England | (1976-04-30)30 April 1976 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right arm medium | |
| Yasir Arafat | Pakistan | (1982-03-12)12 March 1982 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | Overseas player |
| Wicket-keepers ||||||
| Paul Dixey | England | (1987-11-02)2 November 1987 (aged 20) | Right-handed | — | |
| Geraint Jones | England | (1979-07-14)14 July 1979 (aged 28) | Right-handed | — | |
| Bowlers ||||||
| Simon Cook | England | (1977-01-15)15 January 1977 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | |
| James Iles | England | (1990-02-11)11 February 1990 (aged 18) | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | |
| Robbie Joseph | England | (1982-01-20)20 January 1982 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right arm fast | |
| Amjad Khan | England | (1980-10-14)14 October 1980 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | |
| Martin Saggers | England | (1972-05-23)23 May 1972 (aged 35) | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | |
| James Tredwell | England | (1982-02-27)27 February 1982 (aged 26) | Left-handed | Right arm off break | |

## County Championship
### Division One

| P | Team | Pld | W | L | Tie | D | Aban | Bat | Bowl | Deduct | Pts | Promoted / Relegated |
| 1 | Durham | 16 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 37 | 41 | 0 | 190 | Winners of Championship |
| 2 | Nottinghamshire | 16 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 37 | 43 | 0 | 182 |
| 3 | Hampshire | 16 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 33 | 47 | 0 | 178 |
| 4 | Somerset | 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 174 |
| 5 | Lancashire | 16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 24 | 40 | 0 | 170 |
| 6 | Sussex | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 45 | 38 | 0 | 159 |
| 7 | Yorkshire | 16 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 50 | 45 | 0 | 159 |
| 8 | Kent | 16 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 44 | 0 | 154 | Relegated to Championship Division 2 |
| 9 | Surrey | 16 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 45 | 36 | 1 | 124 | Relegated to Championship Division 2 |
Source: Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd fewest defeats P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; Tie = Matches tied; D = Matches drawn; Aban = Matches abandoned; Deduct = Points deducted; Pts = Points

### Matches
## Friends Provident Trophy
### South-East Division

| Team | Pld | W | T | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Kent Spitfires | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | +0.647 |
| Essex Eagles | 8 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | +0.310 |
| Middlesex Crusaders | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | +0.064 |
| Surrey Brown Caps | 8 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -0.627 |
| Sussex Sharks | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -0.534 |

### Final
## NatWest Pro40
### Division Two

| Team | Pld | W | T | L | N/R | Pts | Net R/R |
| Essex Eagles | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | +1.479 |
| Yorkshire Carnegie | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | +0.250 |
| Glamorgan Dragons | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | +0.113 |
| Kent Spitfires | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | +1.629 |
| Surrey Brown Caps | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | –0.444 |
| Warwickshire Bears | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | –0.242 |
| Leicestershire Foxes | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | –0.463 |
| Derbyshire Phantoms | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | –0.892 |
| Northamptonshire Steelbacks | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | –0.993 |

### Matches
## Twenty20 Cup
### South Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Middlesex Crusaders | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | +0.732 |
| 2 | Essex Eagles | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | +0.937 |
| 3 | Kent Spitfires | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | +0.640 |
| 4 | Hampshire Hawks | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | -0.505 |
| 5 | Sussex Sharks | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.876 |
| 6 | Surrey Brown Caps | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.905 |

### Final
## UCCE match

Kent's 3-day match against Leeds/Bradford UCCE in April did not have first-class status.

## Statistics
### Batting

First-class (County Championship and Tour match) :
| Player | Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
| Martin van Jaarsveld | 16 | 27 | 3 | 1,150 | 133 | 47.91 | 60.46 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 140 | 6 |
| Joe Denly | 17 | 30 | 0 | 905 | 149 | 30.16 | 60.81 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 128 | 8 |
| Rob Key | 15 | 25 | 3 | 864 | 178* | 39.27 | 56.21 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 124 | 0 |
| Geraint Jones | 17 | 26 | 4 | 668 | 106 | 30.36 | 52.43 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 92 | 3 |
| James Tredwell | 17 | 28 | 3 | 566 | 123* | 22.64 | 38.50 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 79 | 1 |
| Ryan McLaren | 16 | 23 | 3 | 464 | 65* | 23.20 | 47.63 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 73 | 0 |
| Darren Stevens | 14 | 21 | 1 | 463 | 127 | 23.15 | 65.02 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 66 | 5 |
| Justin Kemp | 10 | 17 | 1 | 412 | 102 | 25.75 | 56.20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 3 |
| Yasir Arafat | 12 | 19 | 5 | 395 | 90* | 28.21 | 62.30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
| Azhar Mahmood | 6 | 8 | 2 | 306 | 116 | 51.00 | 73.20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 3 |
| Neil Dexter | 7 | 8 | 0 | 265 | 105 | 33.12 | 42.74 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| Robbie Joseph | 15 | 18 | 5 | 118 | 23* | 9.07 | 42.29 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 0 |
| Martin Saggers | 11 | 16 | 7 | 101 | 33 | 11.22 | 34.23 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 0 |
| Matt Walker | 6 | 10 | 1 | 94 | 23 | 10.44 | 40.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Amjad Khan | 6 | 7 | 1 | 46 | 21* | 7.66 | 33.57 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Alex Blake | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Simon Cook | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Source: Cricinfo |||||||||||||
List A (Friends Provident Trophy and NatWest Pro40) :
| Player | Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
| Martin van Jaarsveld | 16 | 16 | 4 | 907 | 124 | 75.58 | 105.22 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 85 | 14 |
| Joe Denly | 17 | 17 | 2 | 579 | 102 | 38.60 | 69.84 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 73 | 3 |
| Rob Key | 16 | 16 | 1 | 543 | 120* | 36.20 | 80.32 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 58 | 4 |
| Darren Stevens | 15 | 13 | 3 | 336 | 119* | 33.60 | 106.66 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 10 |
| Justin Kemp | 12 | 10 | 1 | 267 | 68* | 29.66 | 66.08 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| Azhar Mahmood | 14 | 12 | 0 | 258 | 68 | 21.50 | 120.00 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 11 |
| Geraint Jones | 17 | 12 | 2 | 231 | 86 | 23.10 | 82.79 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| Ryan McLaren | 15 | 11 | 6 | 222 | 63 | 44.40 | 105.71 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 4 |
| Matt Walker | 7 | 7 | 0 | 168 | 43 | 24.00 | 78.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 |
| Neil Dexter | 2 | 2 | 1 | 122 | 101* | 122.00 | 86.52 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| Yasir Arafat | 12 | 5 | 2 | 81 | 27 | 27.00 | 117.39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Simon Cook | 13 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 42 | 14.66 | 86.27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| James Tredwell | 17 | 10 | 6 | 38 | 20* | 9.50 | 73.07 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Amjad Khan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4.00 | 66.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin Saggers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3* | - | 37.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbie Joseph | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2* | - | 50.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Source:Cricinfo |||||||||||||
Twenty20 (Twenty20 Cup) :
| Player | Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
| Joe Denly | 13 | 13 | 0 | 451 | 91 | 34.69 | 118.99 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 44 | 16 |
| Rob Key | 13 | 13 | 0 | 345 | 52 | 26.53 | 133.72 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 52 | 5 |
| Azhar Mahmood | 13 | 13 | 6 | 294 | 55 | 42.00 | 168.00 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 14 |
| Darren Stevens | 13 | 13 | 5 | 267 | 69 | 33.37 | 146.70 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 11 |
| Justin Kemp | 11 | 11 | 0 | 201 | 49 | 18.27 | 122.56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 |
| Martin van Jaarsveld | 12 | 11 | 0 | 140 | 32 | 12.72 | 121.73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Yasir Arafat | 13 | 8 | 2 | 130 | 42 | 21.66 | 154.76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 |
| Ryan McLaren | 13 | 9 | 4 | 63 | 19* | 12.60 | 143.18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Geraint Jones | 13 | 11 | 3 | 59 | 28 | 7.37 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Matt Walker | 3 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 12 | 6.66 | 74.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| James Tredwell | 13 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2* | 6.00 | 60.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbie Joseph | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | - | 100.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Simon Cook | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0* | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Source: Cricinfo |||||||||||||

### Bowling

First-class (County Championship and Tour match) :
| Player | Matches | Innings | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 5w | 10w |
| Robbie Joseph | 15 | 27 | 419.1 | 87 | 1,433 | 55 | 6/36 | 9/62 | 26.05 | 3.41 | 45.7 | 2 | 0 |
| Ryan McLaren | 16 | 25 | 400.0 | 83 | 1,179 | 50 | 6/75 | 8/90 | 23.58 | 2.94 | 48.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Yasir Arafat | 12 | 20 | 317.4 | 62 | 1,105 | 38 | 6/86 | 7/149 | 29.07 | 3.47 | 50.1 | 1 | 0 |
| Martin Saggers | 11 | 19 | 276.5 | 69 | 873 | 24 | 4/26 | 5/48 | 36.37 | 3.15 | 69.2 | 0 | 0 |
| James Tredwell | 17 | 23 | 364.4 | 63 | 1,226 | 24 | 3/35 | 6/114 | 51.08 | 3.36 | 91.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Azhar Mahmood | 6 | 10 | 147.0 | 28 | 404 | 21 | 6/55 | 7/91 | 19.23 | 2.74 | 42.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Amjad Khan | 6 | 11 | 145.1 | 36 | 433 | 21 | 3/10 | 6/63 | 20.61 | 2.98 | 41.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin van Jaarsveld | 16 | 12 | 77.0 | 12 | 220 | 11 | 5/33 | 5/33 | 20.00 | 2.85 | 42.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Darren Stevens | 14 | 17 | 123.0 | 26 | 322 | 10 | 4/70 | 4/70 | 32.20 | 2.61 | 73.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Walker | 6 | 2 | 9.0 | 1 | 40 | 1 | 1/34 | 1/40 | 40.00 | 4.44 | 54.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob Key | 15 | 1 | 2.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 1.00 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Neil Dexter | 7 | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | - | - | - | 4.50 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Blake | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 1 | 17 | 0 | - | - | - | 4.25 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Simon Cook | 1 | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | - | - | - | 3.57 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Denly | 17 | 4 | 14.0 | 2 | 47 | 0 | - | - | - | 3.35 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Source: Cricinfo ||||||||||||||
List A (Friends Provident Trophy and NatWest Pro40) :
| Player | Matches | Innings | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w |
| Yasir Arafat | 12 | 12 | 101.4 | 11 | 479 | 27 | 4/29 | 17.74 | 4.71 | 22.5 | 2 | 0 |
| Azhar Mahmood | 14 | 14 | 106.1 | 7 | 459 | 20 | 4/29 | 22.95 | 4.32 | 31.8 | 2 | 0 |
| Ryan McLaren | 15 | 14 | 101.3 | 4 | 525 | 19 | 5/46 | 27.63 | 5.17 | 32.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Robbie Joseph | 10 | 10 | 65.5 | 4 | 314 | 16 | 5/13 | 19.62 | 4.76 | 24.6 | 0 | 1 |
| James Tredwell | 17 | 14 | 89.4 | 1 | 478 | 15 | 4/32 | 31.86 | 5.33 | 35.8 | 1 | 0 |
| Simon Cook | 13 | 12 | 87.1 | 4 | 410 | 12 | 3/41 | 34.16 | 4.70 | 43.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Darren Stevens | 15 | 11 | 59.0 | 3 | 286 | 5 | 2/27 | 57.20 | 4.84 | 70.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Amjad Khan | 3 | 3 | 15.4 | 1 | 81 | 4 | 2/23 | 20.25 | 5.17 | 23.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin van Jaarsveld | 16 | 3 | 12.0 | 0 | 81 | 2 | 1/26 | 40.50 | 6.75 | 36.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Kemp | 12 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | - | - | 12.00 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Martin Saggers | 1 | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | - | - | 7.16 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Source:Cricinfo |||||||||||||
Twenty20 (Twenty20 Cup) :
| Player | Matches | Innings | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w |
| Yasir Arafat | 13 | 13 | 44.0 | 0 | 341 | 23 | 4/17 | 14.82 | 7.75 | 11.4 | 2 | 0 |
| James Tredwell | 13 | 12 | 41.0 | 1 | 264 | 16 | 3/9 | 16.50 | 6.43 | 15.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan McLaren | 13 | 13 | 43.5 | 0 | 334 | 15 | 3/28 | 22.26 | 7.61 | 17.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Azhar Mahmood | 13 | 13 | 47.5 | 0 | 368 | 15 | 3/27 | 24.53 | 7.69 | 19.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Simon Cook | 12 | 12 | 46.0 | 0 | 379 | 11 | 3/21 | 34.45 | 8.23 | 25.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darren Stevens | 13 | 8 | 16.0 | 0 | 140 | 5 | 2/29 | 28.00 | 8.75 | 19.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbie Joseph | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 2/24 | 12.00 | 6.00 | 12.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin van Jaarsveld | 12 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | - | - | 13.00 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Source: Cricinfo |||||||||||||