Kent’s Matt Walker and Adam Riley have both spoken about their relief at Darren Stevens being cleared to play for the club next season.

All-rounder Stevens, 37, had faced two match fixing charges, relating to failing to report corrupt approaches during his time with the Dhaka Gladiators in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2013.

However, after being cleared of all charges in February this year, fans favourite “Stevo” is now free to continue his playing career at Kent for the new campaign.

“If you lose a player like Darren Stevens, it’s a pretty big hole to fill”, said Kent assistant coach Matt Walker. The 41-year-old played alongside Stevens during his time as a player at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, and has now returned to the county from Essex as a member of the backroom setup.

“He’s a three-dimensional cricketer, with what he does with bat, ball and in the field”, he said.

“He’s a match-winner, a crowd-pleaser, and a real backbone of our batting line-up, especially.

“I think it was a real boost, and that news tied in alongside when Doug Bollinger announced he was going to sign. It just gave everyone a bit of a lift, really.”

Walker admitted, however, that not everyone at the club had been overly optimistic of a positive verdict prior to the announcement.

“The pessimistic creatures that we are; I think we probably felt it was maybe going to go the other way and as it turned out, it’s gone for Stevo and that’s huge news for him and great news for Kent.”

Off-spinner Adam Riley agreed, saying the news was “fantastic” for the club as they approach the new season.

“He kept us sweating for a bit!” the 22-year-old laughed.

“We’re all delighted for Stevo, because he was massive for us last year.

“His performances during the back end of the season were fantastic – that 205 not out against Lancashire just summed up his season really, and the way he played in the record chase in the 40-over game against Sussex.

“Any success that we had last year – or the highlights – generally Stevo contributed with bat or ball or in the field. It’s fantastic that we’ve still got him and hopefully he can carry on his good form, and hopefully, as a side, we can go somewhere this year.”

KSN caught up with Matt Walker and Adam Riley at Chaucer Direct, last Friday (21 March). The pair were there alongside a host of Kent sporting stars to help man the phones alongside the volunteers for Sport Relief 2014.

Top picture supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com