Each week former England paceman Matthew Hoggard gives his views on the big stories of the NatWest T20 Blast. This week Hoggy talks about Rob Key’s captaincy, Jason Roy’s brilliant batting and…David Brent
Rob - Roy
There’s a 12-year age gap between two of the outstanding performers in the NatWest T20 Blast last week, but both Rob Key and Jason Roy have shown the values of experience and youth in T20 cricket.
Although his 62 for Kent against Essex was slightly overshadowed by Ravi Bopara in the Eagles’ successful run chase, Key has been in superb form.
It’s no surprise to me because he always had exceptional powers of concentration. He was one of the most unfazeable batsmen you could have on your team.
He’s got that scoop shot - which is a fantastic thing to have in your armoury - and he can score quickly or block depending on the match situation.
I can remember bowling at him at Headingley when he’d batted through a session for very little runs.
He was boring the pants off the lot of us. It was horrendous stuff. The sort of thing where punters pay to leave the ground.
So I asked him: “Any chance of you scoring a sodding run or what?”
He replied: “If you bowl a bit straighter I might think about it.”
He’s always been one of the most articulate cricketers around as we’ve seen from his work on Sky Sports, but when I shared a dressing room with him he was so quick-witted that he reminded me of David Brent, the character played by Ricky Gervais in the sitcom 'The Office'.
If you’ve ever watched the show you might remember the episode with the consultant who can’t get a word in edgeways because Brent kept interrupting him in a way that was uncannily like Rob.
The bit that really stands out was where Brent picks up the guitar.
He sings this song about Princess Diana and pauses after some of the lyrics to check everyone noticed how clever he’d been. Rob used to do a brilliant version of that, although he was a total opposite to the oblivious Brent.
As well as being a quality character to have in the dressing room, Rob was an exceptional leader.
If his bowler had been hit for a boundary, he was the sort of skipper who would tell mid-on and mid-off to come in a little bit closer because: “He’s not going to do that again.”
That’s top-class captaincy. It gives you a boost knowing the skipper’s got faith in you.
Kent have got some good young players this season in the shape of Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sam Billings and Adam Riley.
When you’re starting out in this game, you go through lots of ups and downs and sometimes you need strong leadership. Those lads could not be in better hands.
Roy of the Rey
If Rob Key is shrewd, Surrey’s Jason Roy is a phenomenon. How fast are his hands?
Key is calculating and likes to play certain shots but Roy’s mindset is: “I’m going to hit it over there no matter what.”
He has spent some time with the England Lions and he seems to be the kind of player who has to do things his own way - and says “that’s just me”.
That might make him sound like another South African-born Englishman, but where Kevin Pietersen was more of a legside player who would just whip the ball away, Jason scores more through the offside.
When he scored his unbeaten 81 against Sussex – one of the most destructive innings I’ve seen in the Blast so far - he could not have had a better batting partner at the other end than Hashim Amla.
The new South African Test skipper’s got a vast amount of experience and he’s the kind of player who could stop any player going off the rails - not that he needed to on this occasion.
Those two are a great combination of poise and power. For my money, that’s the best opening pair around at the moment.
Jason’s the type of guy who puts bums on seats. He’s not the kind of player who’s going to average 30 every game.
He’s a match-winner – plain and simple.
He’s got absolutely no fear so he’s going to be hit and miss. But if he plays six games while he might fail in four of them, he could win the other two single-handedly.
If he keeps thumping it around the way he is at the moment, Surrey could surprise a few people this season.