Van Jaarsveld struck 124 in Kent's CB40 win at Worcestershire

Kent batsman Martin van Jaarsveld said that his side must build on their upturn in form ahead of the most important week in their season.

They take on Leicestershire in the County Championship on Tuesday and then the FL t20 quarter-finals on Saturday.

He told BBC Radio Kent: "It's a massive week for us. Quite a few of the big players return. Momentum is massive."

The South African hit 124 in an 86-run victory over Worcestershire in the CB40 on Sunday.

Kent's form in recent weeks has been below par, with defeats by Surrey and Gloucestershire in the County Championship, as well as losing to the Netherlands and Derbyshire in the 40-over format.

Van Jaarsveld said that Kent must raise their game in the double header with Leicestershire this week.

Our formula in the t20 competition has been pretty good. I can't see us changing it from the way we've done it all summer Kent's Martin van Jaarsveld

He said: "We must make sure we inflict a lot of pain on them. We just need to play really well.

"If we can go into Saturday with another win under the belt, beating them in the Championship, that would play on their minds and we would draw a lot of confidence from that."

Kent hope to welcome Rob Key and Joe Denly back into the side following wrist injuries for the opening pair.

In Key's absence, Van Jaarsveld has skippered the side but revealed that despite Kent giving debuts to Sam Billings, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Chris Piesley in the last two weeks, they are likely to retain the team that guided them through the group stages.

"Our formula in the t20 competition has been pretty good. I can't see us changing it from the way we've done it all summer.

Seven players from Kent's 2007 t20 triumph still remain at the St Lawrence Ground.

Van Jaarsveld added that it is vital the experienced members of the squad perform when it matters.

"If you want to win those big games, you need those players to step up," he said. "Throughout our campaign I thought that, more often than not, the senior players actually did that.

"On the day, hopefully we can go out and play really well and get ourselves through to finals day."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version