Last year’s dull, high-scoring draw looks set to be repeated in a day’s play where bat dominated ball as Northamptonshire’s top three all score centuries in a score of 409-1 at the end of day one.
The long wait was finally over for the Kent red-ball faithful as first-class cricket returned to Canterbury with Kent’s first home fixture of the 2026 campaign.
Sadly, the contest on offer was not an eye-catching advert for the first-class game.
Buoyed by their recent match-saving efforts, aided by Storm Dave, Kent welcomed Northamptonshire to the sun-kissed St Lawrence Ground in a game they should surely be looking to win if they have any realistic hope of challenging for promotion.
There were a decent number of fans scattered about for a four-day game, and the ground itself looked refreshed after a tough 2025 season. It was a pleasing throwback to see a space at the Nackington Road end of the ground between the sightscreen and advertising hoardings where several fans were happily sat on the grass, ready to watch play unfold.
With Northamptonshire winning the toss, Kent had the unfortunate task of bowling first on what looked a flat, slow pitch. This was exacerbated by the fact that opening bowler Glenton Stuurman was ruled out with a quad strain and replaced by Jas Singh.
The opening 30 minutes belonged to Northants as they moved to 50-0 in the first eight overs. This included a six from Ricardo Vasconcelos to open the scoring off Matt Milnes’ sixth ball – a graceful flick over backward square.
Vasconcelos was the main aggressor, punishing anything too full with strong drives through the offside.
With the run rate hovering above six an over, skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond looked to get a grip on the run rate by splitting the field and bringing on medium-pacer Joey Evison in the eighth over to bowl stump to stump and stop the flow of boundaries.
This worked as the rate slowed to under 4 over the next hour with some tight bowling from Evison, Dudgeon and Singh. However, a wicket seemed increasingly unlikely as both batters looked in no trouble. This brought flashbacks of the same fixture last year where both sides declared in their first innings on a flat, dead track that offered no chance of a result.
Vasconcelos brought up his 50 with a flick for two into the onside.
Bell-Drummond turned to Tawanda Muyeye’s occasional off-breaks to offer a change of pace and increase the run-rate before lunch. Muyeye’s two over spell began with a filthy half-tracker that was slapped for four and ended with Vasconcelos launching the ball over his head for six.
Jayden Denly replaced Muyeye for the last over before lunch, which went for one run, leaving Northants on 124-0.
After lunch, the attritional cricket continued: Evison bowled with Benjamin up to the stumps, while Dudgeon largely stuck to a good length to keep the run rate down. Dudgeon got a couple of deliveries to rise on the batters, but Evison looked the more likely to take a wicket with the batters pinned to the crease and all three modes of dismissal in play.
However, the session continued with the batters calmly accumulating runs as the bowlers tired and the pitch grew more lifeless. Luke Procter reached his 50 in 90 balls, then Vasconcelos got to his century in the 41st over, comfortably pulling a short ball from Jas Singh through midwicket for four. It was his first red-ball ton since the same fixture last year.
There was still plenty of chat and enthusiasm from the Kent fielders, but the runs kept flowing as Northants reached their highest first wicket partnership against Kent, beating the previous best of 199 at Dover in 1934.
Vasconcelos was eventually dismissed for 127, with Chris Benjamin completing an impressive diving catch from a short ball by Jas Singh that was edged behind.
Leg spinning all-rounder Calvin Harrison came in at 3 with the score on 224-1.
Luke Procter brought up his century in the 60th over from 155 balls, while Harrison made his way to 48* at tea.
After tea, Harrison reached 50 from 55 balls as the spectators braced themselves for another run-fest of a session.
The action did pick up to be fair to Harrison, who upped the run rate with some impressive boundaries, including an excellent cover drive and an on-drive from Singh’s first over of the session. Procter, meanwhile, was contented with being watchful and accumulating his runs gradually.
A couple of drops in the final session rubbed salt into Kent’s wounds. Procter was dropped on 120 and Harrison on 99, although it was a tough caught and bowled chance that was around ankle height to a weary-looking Matt Milnes.
Harrison brought up his second-ever first-class century in the 84th over, completing the hat-trick of centuries for the Northants top three.
Bad light brought an early end to proceedings with Northants on 409-1. Harrison was 124* – his best first-class score, while Procter was on 131*.
This was a tough day for the Kent faithful with relatively little to get excited about. Kent might feel they did nothing especially wrong, aside from a few loose deliveries and dropping a couple of sharp chances. However, a lifeless pitch and lack of penetration from the Kent attack missing one of their overseas pros suggests the game will likely dwindle to a forgettable draw.
The early optimism of Kent’s 2026 season was encapsulated by the smiling fans enjoying the mid-morning sun. However, the final image was one of some rather cold, frustrated individuals huddling for warmth in darkening skies.
Hopefully the remainder of the season brings sunnier, more watchable cricket to Kent.
Kent’s Joey Evison said: “It’s obviously a really nice batting wicket and it got better throughout the day. There was a touch this morning if you put the ball in the right areas, but generally it was a lovely batting wicket and they did play well.
“We just struggled to react to the wicket being flat and coming up with plans to get them out basically. I did what I should have done last week up in Durham. I didn’t have my best game there but realised what I needed to do today.
“I just tried to be as boring as possible, not go for as many runs as last week. It wasn’t pretty, but my plans were clear today and I’m pleased I didn’t go for too many runs, although couple of wickets would have been nice.”
Northamptonshire’s Ricardo Vasconcelos said: “We weren’t actually sure what to do first. It’s the first time we’ve ever put it to a vote and obviously we decided on batting. I don’t think we could have gone any better today.
“Obviously I could have still been batting with Luke, and we would have been 400 for none, but, yeah, I don’t think we could have asked for a better day.
“I think a couple times we’ve come here and it’s spun on the last day as well, so we’ve gone with that, knowing what we’ve got Calvin and Saif.
“But I think the deciding factor was really the overheads this morning. I think once we saw the sun was out, that’s what kind of tipped us in favour of batting.
“I’ve done quite a lot of work in the winter, changing a few things that needed changing. Obviously, the last couple of years haven’t been what they should be, but I feel in a good place.
(Has he ever got off the mark in a championship match with a six before?) “I have, actually. I’ve hit first ball of the game against Gloucester for six last year or the year before. Unintentional that time and unintentional this time. Yeah, it’s not something I’m trying to do, but it’s nice when it happens.”
Picture supplied by Ian Scammell – Oyster Bay Photography.