Lancashire require just five more points to secure promotion back to the first division of the County Championship, as they return to four-day action with a trip to Canterbury.
The Red Rose are hoping to put the issue of promotion to bed following their maiden Twenty20 success at Edgbaston and Ashley Giles' side would ideally want to win Division Two by defeating Surrey later this month. Lancashire were unable to achieve the double over Glamorgan due to several rain delays in their latest Championship fixture at Old Trafford, but they will feel very confident of returning to top-flight action with their second Division Two title in three seasons.
Success in the Natwest T20 Blast came as a welcome reward for the Lightning's efforts in the shortest format of the game on a truly memorable day for the club, although promotion to Division One remains a key target for Giles and club captain, Tom Smith.
It has been an interesting spell for the T20 Champions of late; their victory at Edgbaston on Saturday was their first one-day trophy since 1999 and Lancashire could secure their place back in the first division with two games left to play if they are even able to draw against Kent. Their opponents will be out for revenge after the Spitfires were denied a place at Finals Day on the technicality that they had lost more wickets than Lancashire, after both sides scored 142 in the quarter-final of the Blast.
Paul Horton guided Lancashire to a nine-wicket win in the reverse fixture earlier this season, but it has been announced that the Lancashire opening batsman has no future at the club and England under-19 joint-captain Haseeb Hameed was recently handed a first-team debut against Glamorgan, scoring 28 in Lancashire's first and only innings.
Kent have been unable to revive their Championship campaign and are currently eighth in the second division having won only three matches with the lowest number of batting points in Division Two. The Spitfires made it through to the quarter-finals of the Royal London Cup, but they were edged out by Surrey in a rain-affected clash at the Oval and so pride in red-ball cricket is the only prize at stake for Kent in the latter stages of the season following their exit from the T20 contest at the hands of Lancashire.
Key Players:
Tom Bailey may sound a surprise choice for Lancashire's one-to-watch in this fixture, but the absence of leading wicket-taker, Kyle Jarvis, due to a broken hand means that Bailey is likely to play a key role with the new ball. Jarvis suffered this untimely injury in the build up to Finals Day and his absence will be event given that the Zimbabwean pace bowler has claimed 62 Championship wickets this season.
With Jarvis out for the rest of the campaign, Bailey must step up and play his part. Bailey has a promising record of his own this season having claimed 29 wickets at an average of 29.55 and his usefulness as a lower-order batsman has also come in handy for the Red Rose county. Bailey has scored 200 runs in this four-day campaign and his best figures of the season (5-12) came in one of three innings victories achieved by Lancashire this season against Leicestershire.
Darren Stevens was responsible for inflicting the only defeat suffered by Lancashire in their resounding Division Two triumph in 2013, scoring a double-hundred to help Kent record the highest fourth-innings total against Lancashire. Without his efforts, Kent would have failed to win a four-day game at home for the first time since 1872, but no such record hangs in the balance this season due to Kent's whopping innings and 207-run victory over Essex at Canterbury in July.
Stevens typifies what it means to be a veteran all-rounder and he continues to defy his age by contributing in all three facets of the game. His primary contribution this season has been with the ball; a return of 51 wickets at an average of 20.25 is beaten only by Matt Coles' record of 57 victims in the four-day contest. Stevens has also accumulated 479 runs this season, a fairly modest return for a player who has scored 12,961 first-class runs.
Kent squad: TBC
James Faulkner does not feature for Lancashire following a nasty blow in the final of the Natwest T20 Blast, where the Australian all-rounder fractured his finger. He has therefore played his final game for Lancashire. Toby Lester could therefore feature in only his second first-team game for the Red Rose, with veteran Chapple in the squad to help out in the absence of Jarvis.
Lancashire 13-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Glen Chapple, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), Haseeb Hameed, Simon Kerrigan, Toby Lester, Arron Lilley, Alviro Petersen, Luke Procter, Ashwell Prince.
Match Information:
Weather and conditions: An earlier start and a fair amount of rain the day before this games starts could force the side who wins the toss to bowl first in order to extract the most out of the pitch. Lancashire would certainly be happy bowling first against the side with the fewest batting points in the division, but without new-ball bowler Jarvis available there are no guarantees. The weather seems to be clear and bright for most of the game and for a full forecast, click here.
Ground: St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
Start time: 10.30am
Umpires: Neil Bainton, Graham Lloyd
Match odds (SkyBet): Kent 7/4, Lancashire 2/5
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