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With the English County season just days away the teams were pulling on the whites again for a round of pre-season matches.

April 4th 2005 – Kent vs Old Kent XI – 20/20
Match Photos

England duo Robert Key and Geraint Jones produced two blistering performances each in as many days to get Kent’s pre season of to a impressive start.

Batting first in a 20/20 match against an Old Kent XI featuring many players from the clubs past saw the present day stars get of to a flyer with England duo Robert Key and Geraint Jones smash 103 and 70 respectively in a total of 232/2 in their allotted 20 overs.

New signing Martin Van Jarrsveld made a composed 33 not out on his home debut while Matthew Walker added some fireworks late on to boost the score with a quick fire 21 not out.

Ironically it was a current Kent player Min Patel who turned out for the Old Kent side that took the worst of the assaults going for a painful 57 from his 4 overs, but he did have the comfort of taking the wicket of Jones.

Before the Old Kent XI could get their reply underway the heavens opened and we knew the domestic season had truly arrived!

Kent: 232/2 (20 Overs) Robert Key 103, Geraint Jones 70. Martin Van Jarrsveld 33*
Old Kent: 2/0 (0.1 Overs)

Match Abandoned

Teams

Kent: Geraint Jones+, Robert Key, Martin Van Jaarslved, Matthew Walker, David Fulton*, Darren Stevens, Michael Carberry, Simon Cook, Matthew Dennington, Rob Ferley, Amjad Khan and Alamgir Sheriyar.

Old Kent: Trevor Ward, Joe Denly, D Sabine, Alan Wells, S Hinks, Nial O’Brian+, Min Patel*, Dean Headley, Ben Trott, David Stiff and David Masters.

April 5th 2005 – Kent vs Hampshire – 45 Overs

Day two and finer weather greeted all at the St Lawrence ground in Canterbury as Kent welcomed an under strength Hampshire side.

Batting first Hampshire performed dismally scoring 137 all out in 48 overs, all the Kent bowlers chipped in but Simon Cook showed why he was the leading One-Day bowler last season with figures of 3/22; Not to be out done though Matthew Dennington produced a fine spell of 3/10.

Chasing 138 for victory Robert Key and Geraint Jones continued on from yesterday racing along too their half centuries and wrapping up a simple 10 wicket win in the process.

Kent: 139/0 Robert Key 70*, Geraint Jones 59*
Hampshire: 137ao (48 Overs) Matthew Dennington 3/10, Simon Cook 3/22, Rob Ferley 3/27

Kent Won By 10 Wickets

Teams:

Kent: Geraint Jones+, Robert Key, Martin Van Jaarslved, Matthew Walker, David Fulton*, Darren Stevens, Michael Carberry, Simon Cook, Matthew Dennington, Rob Ferley, Amjad Khan and Alamgir Sheriyar.

Hampshire: Brown, Jimmy Adams, Benham, John Crawley, Derek Kenway, Pothas, Lamb, Shaun Udal, Chris Tremlett, Richard Logan, Bruce, Alan Mullally.

Elsewhere in the country saw many matches going on in the last minute build up to the season.

April 4th 2005 – Mark Chilton XI v Stuart Law XI

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff proved he is on his way back to full fitness ahead of a busy summer of international cricket by hammering a century in a pre-season friendly at Old Trafford.

He eased his way back into action by turning out as a batsman only for Mark Chilton’s XI in the inter-squad match against Stuart Law’s XI and he was soon back in form as he smashed 119 from 99 balls, including seven sixes.

April 4th 2005 – Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire

Meanwhile at Trent Bridge you could have been forgiven for thinking the players put on the wrong colours as it was a case of former players all over the field.

England A international Graeme Swann turned out for his new county Nottinghamshire against his former employers Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge but could not prevent a 42-run defeat for last year’s Division Two champions.

Nottinghamshire chose to bat first after winning the toss and former Nottinghamshire batsmen Bilal Shafayat and Usman Afzaal both hit centuries as the visitors took advantage of a short boundary to reach 302 for three from their 45 overs.

Leicestershire vs The Pakistan Cricket Board XI – 20/20

Earlier in the week Leicestershire finished off their tour to Pakistan with the first ever 20/20 match in Asia against The Pakistan Cricket Board XI included Test fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who was using the game as a fitness test and he returned figures of 1-21 in four overs.

The Foxes made 121-8 chasing 164 to win mainly due to contributions of 20 from John Sadler and 17 from Aftab Habib. Leicestershire skipper Darren Maddy took 3-18 and John Masters 2-33 when the home side batted first.

Warwickshire vs Yorkshire

Match Abandon, due to heavy rain.

Somerset vs Glamorgan

Match Abandon, due to heavy rain.

Northamptonshire vs Warwickshire

Match Abandon, due to heavy rain.

Derbyshire vs Worcestershire

Match Abandon, due to heavy rain.