Head coach Adam Hollioake insists there’s more to come as Kent Spitfires grow into the T20 Blast.
The Spitfires have made an excellent start to the T20 Blast campaign with three wins out of four group games.
They thrashed Surrey by eight wickets on Sunday – winning with six overs to spare at The Oval – to bounce back from a home loss to Essex last Friday.
“I think there’s a lot more to come,” said Hollioake. “I think the basics of the game, they’re getting there.
“They’re understanding the basics, they’re understanding the style they want to play in.
“But there are still some little nuances of the game, which I think they’re just going to pick up as we go along.
“We’ve got a talented side, but we’re inexperienced in terms of winning competitions.
“So, I think they’re getting their idea of what to do and they’re learning how they want to play their cricket.
“They’re taking control of their own team, which is great. They’re growing into men, so that’s the thing that pleases me most.”
The victory over Surrey backed up wins against Middlesex and Sussex. It was the bowlers that set the tone against Surrey and Hollioake was delighted with their performance.
“To put it all together was really pleasing,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on, but I would have thought that 170 or something like that would have been par.
“But I think to restrict them to that (116 all out) was a great effort.”
It was the perfect response after they never got going against Essex just two days earlier.
Hollioake added: “One of the things I’ve challenged the boys with in the past is when we have defeats, how we bounce back from it.
“For me, that’s the most pleasing aspect of the whole thing, apart from the fact it’s my old team.
“I’m disappointed with the Essex game, that’s me being a perfectionist. But I’m happy with the way we’ve played in general.”
Keith Dudgeon came into the side along with Harry Finch, both putting in match-winning displays.
It’s that strength in depth Hollioake is excited by.
“I think there’s a good vibe around the camp,” he added. “There’s a good energy, very positive energy and there’s healthy competition for places.
“In the past, I think we just had a squad of 11. If we had a couple of injuries, then we weren’t able to compete.
“But now we’ve probably got 15, 16, 17 guys who are all really pushing hard and people are aware that if they don’t perform, someone’s going to come in.
“Those people who are trying to come in are in form so it’s healthy competition.
“We’ve never seen Keith in T20 before. He’s been telling me every day how good he is at it.
“I think what’s nice is we’ve got an all-rounded attack where we’ve got the two spinners, we’ve got Matt Parkinson to come in if the wicket spins. We’ve got a couple of all-rounders with the quality of Grant Stewart and Joey Evison on the sideline, it just shows how deep our squad is now.”
Tawanda Muyeye is likely to miss the games at Sussex this Sunday and Essex on Tuesday due to concussion protocols while Tom Rogers is out for one-two weeks with a hamstring strain.
