Matt Milnes has signed a two-year contract extension with Kent County. The franchise inked the deal with the seamer on January 26 and the contract bids Milnes to stay at Canterbury until the end of the 2022 campaign.
Milnes moved out from Nottinghamshire to join Kent in October 2018. Since then, the seamer has taken 73 wickets in 19 games for Kent. In his first season, he picked up Kent’s Bowler of the Year award after a breakout summer taking 55 wickets in the Bob Wills Cup at an average of 25.14.
The 26-year-old right-arm medium-fast debuted back in 2014 for Derbyshire where he played for Durham Second XI in 2013 and 2014 before featuring for Nottinghamshire’s Second XI in 2016. In 2017, the seamer signed a three-month contract with Nottinghamshire, which later turned into a one-year affair.
In September 2018, Milnes signed a three-year contract with Kent for the start of the 2019 season, despite being offered a contract extension by Nottinghamshire. Since then, Milnes has taken long strides for Kent in the last two seasons.
Kent’s director of cricket, Paul Downton said, “Matt’s ability to bowl match-winning spells makes him a stand-out talent. This has already been recognized by the England selectors with a call-up to England Lions after his first full season in county cricket. Matt is still an inexperienced bowler and he knows there is still room for him to improve, which I am confident he will do working closely with bowling coach Simon Cook.”
It is clearly evident that Matt Milnes has taken long leaps in the longer format of the sport, but according to his critics he still needs to adapt when it comes to the shorter format as he has failed to win opportunities in the Vitality Blast.