Key unlocks Kent potential

Robert Key hailed the massive improvement made by Kent in one-day cricket after they lifted the Twenty20 Cup for the first time by overcoming Gloucestershire by four wickets in the final at Edgbaston.

A hat-trick from Ryan McLaren helped restrict Gloucestershire to 146 for eight and then Darren Stevens' unbeaten 30 helped the Spitfires gain the 13 required off the wayward final over from Carl Greenidge with three balls to spare.

Key, whose unbeaten 68 had helped Kent defeat Sussex in the last four, said: "This feels pretty good. A couple of years ago I never thought we would get to the quarter-final stage yet alone win it."

He added: "To win it the first time we've got here is special. I feel a bit stupid at times dancing around too much but I am pretty happy inside.

"I wasn't watching the last over. I came out when we needed two to win. I was in the dressing room. Winning it is a brilliant feeling.

"We set our stall out to do better in one-day cricket. Since taking on the captaincy our one-day form has been so bad at Kent that we could only go one way. We have recruited well and our fielding has got better.

"As for myself, I had always seen it as my goal to play Test cricket and one-day cricket took a back seat - but this is a great feeling to win this trophy.

"This win will mean a lot to people at Kent. There are a lot of good people behind the scenes and on the coaching side like Graham Ford, Paul Farbrace and Simon Willis.

"They have done a lot of work and taken a lot of stick over the last few years. They deserve this."