Derbyshire have signed Kent‘s 43-year-old all-rounder Darren Stevens on a loan deal ahead of their T20 Blast campaign.
Stevens, 43, did not feature for Kent in the 2018 edition of the T20 Blast and was not a part of their squad for the upcoming tournament.
However, Kent will retain the services of their all-rounder for their County Championship match against Essex on August 18. Stevens has taken 28 wickets for Kent in four-day cricket this year, averaging under 25.
Stevens who has been at Kent for fourteen years will only be eligible for Derbyshire’s T20 matches with his availability extending to the knockout stages should Derbyshire get there.
However, in the event of Kent facing Derbyshire in the latter stages of the competition Stevens will be ineligible to feature.
Derbyshire’s Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton, was delighted to welcome the experienced Stevens to the club and full of praise for the all-rounders mentality.
“Darren has won the competition before and that is valuable experience for us. He has a winning mentality and is a skillful all-rounder,” Houghton said.
“We have a good mix of players in the squad which he will complement, and it will be good for our younger guys to be able to work with Darren over the next couple of months.”
Meanwhile, Stevens was happy at the chance to potentially play his first T20 match in 23 months.
“I’ve always enjoyed T20 and this is a great opportunity for me to contribute for Derbyshire with both bat and ball.”
Kent’s Director of Cricket Paul Downton emphasised that, despite the loan deal, Stevens remained a part of their plans in the longer-format.
“Darren has been a tremendous servant to the club since arriving here in 2005. He remains very much part of our plans in Championship cricket for the rest of the season,” Houghton said.
“However, having not been included in our T20 squad for this year, Darren wanted the opportunity to play T20 cricket elsewhere and I am delighted he will have the opportunity at Derbyshire.”
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