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Van Jaarsveld ends on high
Martin van Jaarsveld admitted to being ‘over the moon’ after finishing the 2008 season as the PCA MVP and picking up the PCA player of the year award at a glittering ceremony in Old Billingsgate.
The Kent batsman was instrumental in his team’s run to the finals of both the Friends Provident Trophy and Twenty20 Cup, and also scored 1,150 runs in the championship at an average of 47.91.
That included twin hundreds in a game against Surrey at the Brit Oval, in which he also picked up a five-wicket haul.
“That was the turning point,” he told ecb.co.uk. “The fact that we were behind the ball at the Oval in that one game and then to take a five-wicket haul and perform with the bat was important.
“To get those five wickets was beyond my dreams, to be honest. And I have caught pretty well in the slips.
“It was just one of those seasons, with a bit of divine intervention. It was almost as if it was meant to be.”
However, it did not come easy for van Jaarsveld and he admits that a few technical changes at the start of the season made all the difference.
“Myself and Robert Key sat down at the start of the season and most of what we discussed made sense.
“I then took that into my games and it was particularly beneficial in the one-day games. What we did freed myself up quite a bit and then I managed to take some of that form into the championship.”
Van Jaarsveld started his season with a bang in the Friends Provident Trophy, scoring 122 not out in the first match and ending with a tally of 660 runs from nine matches, including four centuries.
“In the one-dayers I think my performances far exceeded the goals I had set myself,” he agreed.
“But I possibly came up a little bit short of my goals in the championship. I was looking for 1,500 runs, but I found it pretty tough with the conditions this year and all the rain around.”
Van Jaarsveld sets the bar high and was disappointed that Kent were relegated from Division One, for the first time since the championship was split into two divisions.
“To sit on the balcony and realise that I am in the side which got relegated for the first time in Kent’s history is pretty soul-destroying, to be honest,” he admitted.
“I am pretty torn. We have played some really good cricket, particularly in the one-day arena. We effectively reached three finals, but we were never able to get over that final hurdle.”
Kent lost out to Middlesex in the Twenty20 Cup and to Essex in the Friends Provident Trophy final at Lord’s. They then lost to Essex again in the final round of NatWest Pro40 matches in what was the promotion-decider for the second division.
The tag of bridesmaid does not sit easily with van Jaarsveld.
“We have been pretty consistent in the one-day competitions so hopefully we can just get one step further than we did this year,” he said.
“We need to try to win some silverware. That is very important - not just for the club, but also for the players’ morale.
“We played well but we have nothing to show for it. And then we had the relegation on top of that. We need to get back into the top flight.”
