HUW TURBERVILL: The allrounder, who turns 47 in April, was released by Royal London Cup winners Kent at the end of last term and alleges he was forced out by director of cricket Paul Downton
Darren Stevens has had talks with a first-class county as he targets a 27th year in the professional game.
Stevens was “devastated” to leave Kent at the end of last summer, feeling that director of cricket Paul Downton had wanted to ease him out for some time.
He wants a county close to his Canterbury home.
“I would snap someone’s hand off to play a full season in county cricket,” he told The Cricketer. “I’d love to play another year in all formats.
Stevens signed off from his Kent stint in fitting fashion (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
“I feel my white-ball game is up to scratch. And obviously, the four-day stuff is the challenge, getting through the days and the overs, putting scores together and batting time and spells… but I still love it.
“I’ve had a few conversations. The difficult thing is that as much as someone like Durham and Lancashire could come in, I’d love to do it but it’s a little bit far from my Canterbury home as I have an eight-year-old and a four-year-old.
“That would be tough. If it was somewhere close to home it would be a no-brainer…”
The lads at BACA giving Darren Stevens a testing time as he aims to win a new county deal for 2023 – Club Cricket Guide @TheCricketerMag @Aldridge_CA pic.twitter.com/nvSuvjwItV
Stevens, who turns 47 on April 30, took his kit out of mothballs last week at the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy in Falmer, inspiring the youngsters on the state school’s incredible junior cricket pathway programme; and testing out new bats for The Cricketer’s Club 2023 Cricket Guide.
When The Cricketer posted a video on Twitter, speculation was rife that the evergreen allrounder had signed for Sussex. He will not say which county he is talking to, although he did say of Brighton: “It’s a lovely part of the world!”
On his Kent exit after 18 seasons, he said: “Over the last four or five years the director of cricket at Kent, Paul Downton – for some reason – has been wanting me out of the door.
Will Hove be Stevens’ new home? (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
“But in the back of my mind, I’m thinking: ‘I can still do this, I know I can, but I need to prove it to other people.’
“I’m gutted, devastated to leave Kent; especially as one of the best knocks of my career came against Hampshire in last summer’s Royal London Cup semi-final (84 not out). If I hadn’t got that we wouldn’t have won the game, right? I am hitting it as well as I ever have. Forget my age… am I still doing the job?
“I guess he [Downton] had a direction of travel that he wanted to go on and I just wasn’t in that set-up, but it’s one of those things. I had a few injuries. I got hit on the collarbone last year, a back-of-a-length ball that I just lost sight of, and that stopped me doing things – it put me out for seven weeks.”
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