Kent legend Stevens returns in coaching shake-up
Darren Stevens spent 17 years playing for Kent from 2005 until his retirement in 2022
- Published
Legendary Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens is returning to the club as a bowling consultant in Adam Hollioake's coaching staff.
The former seam bowler spent 17 years playing for Kent, taking 838 wickets across all formats.
He finished playing professionally in 2022, aged 46, with the club retiring his number three shirt in his honour.
Since his retirement, Stevens, now 49, has worked as an assistant coach for Essex Women.
"Stevo coming back to Kent to join our bowling coaching provision will undoubtedly be popular with our members and supporters," Kent's director of cricket Simon Cook told the club website., external
"His experience and coaching skills will be invaluable to our first-team bowlers as we head into a new season under Adam Hollioake."
Kent finished bottom of County Championship Division Two this summer, having been relegated from Division One the year before.
Kent retired Darren Stevens' number three shirt at the end of his playing career
Stevens amassed almost 17,000 runs and took 591 wickets in first-class matches during a career which began in 1997 with Leicestershire.
He moved to Kent in 2005 and played there for the rest of his career, winning five trophies, including two T20 Blast titles.
In total, Stevens made 45 centuries and 146 half centuries in 25 years as a professional player.
Jaahid Ali, a 30-year-old former batter for Pakistan A who previously coached the club's pathway sides, becomes batting coach after supporting the first team last season.
Academy and former women's team coach Sam Faulkner has been promoted to take charge of the bowlers, with both assistants continuing to work on bringing through players from Kent's youth system.
"With Sam and Jaahid, there will be clear guidance and mentoring for our young talent at first-team, academy and pathway level to make any transition to a higher level more seamless from a playing perspective," Cook added.
"Both Sam and Jaahid have worked closely with our talent pathway for a number of years now and are both held in high regard by our pathway players and staff."
CORRECTION 23 OCTOBER: The original version of this story stated that Kent had said that Toby Radford had left the county as part of the coaching changes. He had actually left in 2024.
