Kent captain Sam Billings learnt a lot amid a successful first experience in Pakistan.
Pembury-born Billings helped Lahore Qalandars retain their Pakistan Super League crown as they beat Multan Sultans by one run in a thrilling Final.
“In terms of the different challenges it posed, there was the pace bowling element - which is obviously talked about a lot - and they just keep producing them consistently," the 31-year-old said.
"I wish we could do it down here!
“It was an amazing experience. Obviously any time where you’re part of a winning side, you learn a lot.
“It was amazing to play with those great players and get another trophy.”
Kent team-mate Jordan Cox was also part of the Qalandars squad, although he didn’t play in the tournament.
But Billings, who himself has joined various franchise leagues over the years only to then not see much action, still hopes fellow wicketkeeper Cox took a lot away from being part of Lahore's squad.
“I spent a lot of time with Coxy,” he said.
“He’s a great personality and he has an exceptionally bright future ahead of him.
“He’s one of the most talented youngsters around. I kept trying to remind him that, at 22, there’s not many players - if any - that are playing all three formats for their county, batting where he wants and playing franchise cricket around the world.
“As a 22-year-old with the world at his feet, what a great opportunity.
"I’ve, obviously, been on the bench a lot. But at 22, he’ll still learn a lot from the experience - just as long as you’re not still doing it at 26, 27 or 28 - and I’m sure he won’t be!
“Seeing guys like Rashid Khan go about their business and Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Fakhar Zaman - what a great batsman to look at and emulate as well - so he learnt a lot.
"He’s raring to go for the summer ahead."
Billings has been regularly involved in various franchises around the globe which have meant he has missed chunks of recent Kent campaigns.
But he’s explained why he’s looking to focus on longer-format cricket ahead of the start of this summer.
He said: “I’m just looking forward to playing some cricket.
“Four-day cricket [is great] in terms of that fulfilment. I’m sure we’d all say Test cricket is the most fulfilling format of the game.
“That’s the same with four-day cricket. Being with your mates, fighting over four days to get a result, at the end, they’re the victories to savour.
"I’m looking forward to getting back into it.”
And after Kent won the T20 Blast in 2021 and last year’s Royal London One-Day Cup, Billings has set his sights on helping them earn more silverware.
“There’s a very short amount of time in each career where there’s a realistic chance of winning a trophy - whether it’s the County Championship, the T20 Blast or the One-Day Cup,” he noted.
“To build on that success is an opportunity that we’ve got to grab.
"We’ve got to start the season well. Historically, that’s been a stumbling block for us.
“Having Zak Crawley available at the start of the year, in terms of the mentality and personality he brings to the group, regardless of what he does on the field, is huge.
“I think, collectively, with myself being back and having that consistency of me being captain all the way through, hopefully, that’ll bode well.”
Billings suggested the way skipper Ben Stokes has captained the national side, with the backing of head coach Brendon McCullum, will impact things at county level.
He said: “Stokesy has been quite revolutionary in terms of the way he’s approached it.
“So many times in county cricket, it’s about the top of off [stump] and you just stick to that, and wear them down.
"It’ll probably come into it where we’ll need to be a little bit more exciting, I suppose, just having that focus to get wickets the whole time and hunting that. A really positive approach.
“I think elements of that will definitely filter down into the game but we won’t ask players who generally are defensive batters to go and change their game completely.
"Actually, doing their job will help our batting unit.
“If you look down our batting unit, it’s pretty much stroke-makers all the way down, so I think it’s quite a natural fit [so they have that balance].”
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/sport/it-was-an-amazing-experience-284655/
(@KentCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/KentCricket/status/1121777173315108865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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