Saggers suggests more to come

_{Martin Saggers spoke to ECBtv on the eve of this season's Friends Provident Trophy campaign}

Kent seamer Martin Saggers is confident last season’s losing finalists can capture the Friends Provident Trophy this year.

The 36-year-old was a spectator as Essex triumphed by five wickets at Lord’s last August, a crushing disappointment given their emphatic progress to the final.

This included hammering holders Durham by 83 runs in the Riverside semi-final, having topped Group B with five wins from eight matches.

Saggers, back at Lord’s for the 2009 Trophy launch, told ECBtv: “Essex were in fine form. They were the deserved winners on the day.

“We had played a lot of good cricket throughout the whole season. It was quite right we were in the final as well.

“Unfortunately things didn’t go well on the day. Hopefully we can put things right this year and go one better.”

2008 proved to be a frustrating season for Kent all round. They were losing finalists in the Twenty20 Cup, narrowly missed out on NatWest Pro40 promotion and slipped late on in the LV County Championship to suffer relegation.

Graham Napier cleans up Kent opener Joe Denly as Essex took a stranglehold of the 2008 Friends Provident Trophy final

But Saggers, who has three England Test caps, is confident the Spitfires have what it takes to make amends in this year’s Trophy.

“Along the way it’s a number of things,” he continued. “Consistency is one big thing because obviously you’ve got to perform on a regular basis.

“You’ve got to get through the initial rounds, the round-robin tournament, and obviously you’ve got to play well in each game to get there (the final).

“But along the way there have got to be elements of luck: the catches that just go your way, the run-outs and direct hits, things like that - they’re all contributory factors in getting to the final. Once you’re there you’ve still got to perform on the day.”

And Saggers is confident Kent will again have the strength in depth to challenge for honours on all fronts this season.

Former South Africa batsman Martin van Jaarsveld, the reigning Friends Provident Trophy MVP, will again be key, but he has plenty of potential accomplices.

“He’s obviously one of our most performing batsmen of the year last year, but we’ve got a strong line-up and a middle order that can destroy attacks," said Saggers.

“The likes of Justin Kemp and Ryan McLaren, who had a good final himself, and then Robbie Joseph in the bowling line-up, who bowled particularly well in the final last year.

“So all-round we’ve got a good squad and there’s no reason why we can’t emulate what we did last year.”