An 18-year-old Academy product has penned his first Kent contract.
Wicketkeeper-batter Ben Dawkins has signed a two-year rookie deal, having been a part of Kent’s Talent Pathway since under-12 level.
Director of cricket Simon Cook said: “Ben is a bright young talent, having progressed through our Talent Pathway programme and we’re excited that he can now make the step up to first-team cricket.
“This is just the start for Ben and we hope that his impressive performances at international representative level will help him kick-on in his development as he makes the transition into our first team.”
Dawkins has been featuring for Kent’s 2nds since 2023 and has played 20 times, including scoring 48 against Zimbabwe A in a 50-over match at Beckenham last July and 108 not out from just 52 deliveries against Essex 2nds in a T20 in May.
He also scored 93 for England’s Young Lions against Sri Lanka in a one-day match last June and scored 60 or more runs in each of England under-19s’ last three Youth One-Day International matches against India under-19s this month.
Dawkins made an appearance in Kent Spitfires’ National County Match against Bedfordshire last year, which didn’t hold List A status, and has also recently been training with the men’s first-team squad – taking a catch as a substitute fielder in their two-wicket T20 Blast win over Sussex Sharks at Hove on Wednesday.
He will be available to play in competitive first-team matches for Kent, including the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, which begins next month.
Dawkins is also included in Spitfires’ T20 squad for tonight’s Blast game against Somerset in Canterbury.
