Kent’s Grant Stewart is determined to make up for lost time after a stop-start campaign so far.
The 32-year-old has played just two County Championship games this season and has now featured in the last four Vitality Blast matches.
Stewart took career-best T20 figures of 4-32 as Kent Spitfires beat Hampshire Hawks by seven wickets at Canterbury on Sunday.
“It’s been great to be back playing,” admitted Stewart. “It’s been a frustrating start to the season for me.
“I thought I had a pretty good winter and was keen to get this season off and running. But a few things on and off the field have hampered that a little bit.
“I’m definitely glad to be out there and being part of the team.
“Hopefully I can make a big impact in the second half of the year and come in with some fresh legs, get around the boys and hopefully contribute to some more wins.
“I feel like we’ve been playing pretty good cricket but haven’t been on the right side of results recently. But it was nice to get back to winning ways and hopefully get a bit of momentum into the next few games.”
Stewart came into the summer with plenty of impetus after playing in the T20 World Cup in India for Italy.
They won just one of their group games but it was still a memorable experience for Stewart, who has now played 24 T20 internationals.
“It was an amazing winter and to be involved in that and play against some unbelievable players and experience the atmosphere in India was something else, for sure,” he said.
“I was looking forward to bringing that into the season, but I’ve left it a little bit late.
“The World Cup was definitely a career highlight for me. It would be awesome to play in another World Cup as it was an amazing experience.
“I felt we did pretty well. We were a little bit disappointed with our first game, there were maybe a few nerves leading in against Scotland.
“But as the competition went on, I thought we started to play some good cricket and we got the win against Nepal. We didn’t quite get over the line against England and West Indies, but I felt we gave a good account of ourselves in those games and showed what we’re about.”
Stewart will be hoping to bring that experience to the table as Spitfires target a place at finals day in the Vitality Blast.
He revealed it was slower balls all the way as he helped restrict Hampshire to 176-6 last weekend, the Hawks seemed on target for 200-plus at one stage.
“To tell you the truth, I literally bowled an off-cutter every ball,” said Stewart. “I was basically an off-spinner off a long run!
“It was obviously a used wicket, the same one we used against Notts, and it played considerably different to that night.
“We had to change tactics a little bit. It favoured the slow bowlers and the changes of pace which probably brought me into the game a bit more.
“I had a pretty clear idea of what I was going to try and do. It probably worked a bit better than I was expecting.
“I thought I’d have to change my pace a little bit more but I just pretty much bowled the same ball over and over, and let the wicket do the work.
“The way our batters adjusted in the second innings was impressive because it wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on.”
Stewart wasn’t introduced into the attack until the 13th over, although that wasn’t a planned tactic.
“I thought I might have got a bit of a sniff in the power play, but Keith Dudgeon bowled really well, so we went an extra one with him, which was completely understandable,” said Stewart.
“There was a stage where I thought I might not bowl at all but then Sam Billings wanted to change it up a little bit and get an over in.
“It went all right, so I guess he kept going with me instead of going back to the spinner. It’s the way T20 goes, you’ve got to adapt on the go.
“It’s just the way it falls sometimes. It can turn pretty quickly in T20. You can bowl some nice balls and they get hit to the boundary.
“I believe we’ve got one of the best batting line-ups in the competition. It goes to show the quality we’ve got.
“Harry Finch played an unreal knock. He probably goes under the radar, but he just held the innings together and it allowed Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam to come in and really take the game on, as they do so well.”
Kent Spitfires visit Worcestershire tomorrow (Friday) and then face Hampshire Hawks in Southampton on Sunday.
