Simon Willis helped the Spitfires win the Twenty20 Cup in 2007

Kent coach Simon Willis has labelled Thursday night's Twenty20 Cup defeat against Sussex as a 'total mess'.

Floodlight failure at Hove handed the home side an unlikely two-run Duckworth/Lewis victory.

Although Kent knew of the problem with the lights before the game, Willis was upset at the abruptness of the finale.

"The umpires gave us no indication they were going to come off. They just took the bails off and that was the end of the game," he told BBC Kent.

"It's another mess and we've come out on the wrong end of it again.

"We outplayed Sussex. We restricted them to a low total on a difficult pitch and were cruising.

"I've got no problem with the umpires making the decision, but normally in the games I've been involved in in my cricket career, the umpires let you know when you've got an over or two left so that at least both sides know.

It used to be a very simple game but the regulation book seems to get thicker and thicker every year Kent coach Simon Willis

"We feel cheated at this moment in time."

Willis revealed that Kent were given no indication that there was a problem with the floodlights until the toss-up.

"We went for the Duckworth/Lewis route," he said, "as then we felt we knew what kind of total we were going to have to chase over by over.

"We were ahead all the way through it and it's just disappointing.

"It just seems the game's getting very messy at the moment, and cricket's not the winner.

"People who love the game so much are starting to question why they should come to watch it.

"It used to be a very simple game but the regulation book seems to get thicker and thicker every year

"Maybe that's having people involved in the game that haven't played, but it's not a positive effect for me."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version