Waugh steels Kent for battle

Leicestershire 259 and 169-3 Kent 379

Two wickets in three balls by Martin Saggers, county crickets' most consistently threatening bowler, re-ignited Kent's hopes of a win to keep the pressure on the Championship leaders Surrey after Darren Maddy and Trevor Ward had erased a 120-run deficit with sensible batting.

That Kent enjoyed such a lead was due to Min Patel swashbuckling his way to a second career-best in consecutive innings, although disappointingly his left-arm spin lacked such adventure, delivered as it was mostly from over the wicket.

With Steve Waugh, Australian Test captain and champion of four-an-over run rates in Test cricket and attacking slip cordons in one-day internationals camped at short-extra cover, it was curious that Kent appeared content to stifle rather than attack, although their knowledge of former team-mate Ward could have been the reason.

Today Patel will need to go round the wicket and search for wickets and David Fulton, the captain with the potentially awkward task of captaining Waugh, will have to heed the Australian's words to "have fun with the captaincy, try things".

At least there will be no shortage of effort from Kent, as Fulton described the effect on the dressing room of the arrival of Waugh. "Everyone is trying to impress him," he explained, "or, as Min put it, whoever you are, however much cricket you've played, you want Stephen Waugh to think you are a good player."

"He's fitted in well since arriving," continued Fulton. "We had dinner last Sunday and he said that he was looking forward to being one of the rank and file, but I told him I wanted his input. Four overs was all it took, actually, he wandered up to me with a thought on the field.

"He says that none of it is rocket science but just ideas. For example, one of our problems this season has been an inability to finish a tail off. I have kept a fine-leg and square-leg for protection because Amjad [Khan] and Martin Saggers want to bowl straighter but Waugh thinks that most lower-order batsmen stay leg-side of the ball so we need more fielders in the slips. Bowl the same line, get rid of fine-leg or square-leg and have a fourth slip.

"Another one was, why immediately put a man out on the sweep for a spinner when the batsman doesn't sweep? Keep him up and let him play the shot.

"Already I am a better captain than a couple of days ago. Although, when he left the field on Friday with a bad finger, we were very worried. The boys have since got stuck into him about Pommy grit."

Ironically, grit is one of the most important things he will teach them.