CricketSUDBURY'S chances of promotion to the East Anglian Premier League have received a double boost.South African one-day international Jon Kent, who played for Sudbury in 2000, is returning to the club next season.

Cricket

SUDBURY'S chances of promotion to the East Anglian Premier League have received a double boost.

South African one-day international Jon Kent, who played for Sudbury in 2000, is returning to the club next season.

And former Kent captain David Fulton, who retired from first-class cricket at the end of last season, has agreed to play for the club as a 'guest' in 2007.

Roger Troughton, chairman of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship Division One club, confirmed that Kent and Fulton will be at Friars Street next season.

“Jon Kent is returning as our professional coach, although he won't be arriving until the first weekend in May as he is getting married. He has the option of also playing for us if he chooses, but of course we can't pay players to play in the league.

“We would like to think he will play for us either on a Saturday or a Sunday, but he is a very good coach and we look forward to welcoming him back.

“David Fulton is to play as a 'guest' for a couple of games. He knows (former Sudbury skipper) Louis Brooks, who has done some charity work with him, and he has agreed to turn out for Sudbury.”

Kent topped both the Two Counties batting and bowling averages during the 2000 season, scoring 905 runs at an average of 90.50 and claiming 39 wickets at 13.23 each.

The 27-year-old right-hand bat and right-arm medium-fast bowler subsequently made his one-day international debut in 2002, playing two matches. He has since also represented Scotland as an overseas player.

Fulton, 35, played 200 first-class matches for Kent after making his debut in 1992, and assumed the captaincy in 2003, after sharing the role with Matthew Fleming the previous season.

He was nearly forced to retire after being hit in the left eye while facing a bowling machine in the nets before the 2003 season, but major surgery saved his career.

Kent decided not to renew his contract at the end of the 2006 season and he finished his first-class career in style, scoring 155 in his final innings for the county against Middlesex.

Troughton added “We wish to give our members the opportunity to play their cricket at the highest possible standard, which is the East Anglian Premier League.

“Without playing in the league we can't make an informed decision about the league, but our ambition is to try to get promotion and then see whether it is feasible, practical and viable to sustain the club at that level.”

Sudbury won the Two Counties Championship in 2004, but lost in the play-off semi-final and with it the chance of promotion to the EAPL.