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Kent coach Matt Walker on day-night pink ball clash with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge
00:00, 25 June 2017
Head coach Matt Walker admits Kent are venturing into the unknown next week.
The County Championship will feature its first round of day-night matches in preparation for England’s first-ever day-night Test at home against West Indies in August.
Kent head to Division 2 leaders Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge from Monday, with the game starting at 2pm each day and due to finish around 9.30pm.
The conditions are likely to play a big part, with the combination of the pink Dukes ball and the descent of twilight expected to provide bowlers with considerable opportunity to swing the ball.
Notts are boosted by the availability of England's Jake Ball, though Stuart Broad misses out through injury, while Sam Billings is back for Kent but it only available for the first two days before linking up with England Lions.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah was selected for the opening two games of his four-match stint with Kent, against Durham and at Worcestershire this week, picking up a fivefer as Kent lost by four wickets, and Walker said he was likely to keep his place as New Zealand paceman Adam Milne rests an ankle niggle after the Champions Trophy.
Walker said: “It’s new. Most players haven’t played in a game like this before and I certainly haven’t been involved in one. We can’t second guess how the game is going to play out because nobody really knows.
“It’s a new initiative from the ECB and we just have to get on with it. It’s the same for everyone.
“How the pink ball will affect things, how the weather, the conditions at different times – we just don’t know. It will probably have to be a case of suck it and see and then it’s down to who adapts to the job the best.”
Walker said Kent planned to hold an evening practice session at the Spitfire Ground on Saturday evening, after the the England Lions versus South Africa A game. He said: “It’s our only real opportunity to do it as we have such a short turnaround between the game at Worcester. We’ll practice with the pink ball and get a bit of a feel for it.”
Despite the Notts game looking like potentially the biggest of the season for his side, Walker claimed he didn’t mind it will be decided in unfamiliar conditions.
He said: “It doesn’t really matter who the opposition is. We don’t look too much into it. The different ball and conditions isn’t much of an issue – it’s the same for both teams. It’s just another game, albeit a tough one. Notts are having a great season and are looking strong. It would be tough with a pink ball or a red one, at any time of day.
“It might be that the changes might affect them more than us, it might even help us, the ball might swing about, it might not.”
Walker added: “Notts were strong favourites for promotion from the start of the season but we are not far behind.
“It’s a big game in the eyes of a lot of people but we have to stay calm and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”