The Lions won the toss and decided to bat but they were soon in trouble as they lost Jason Roy for a duck first ball of the innings.
Skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown (7) also fell cheaply as Surrey slumped to 13-2 before Steven Davies steadied the ship with a useful 31 off 27 deliveries.
Davies was eventually run out and when Matthew Spriegel was sent back to the pavilion by Adam Ball (2-23), the visitors were left reeling at 62-5.
But Gary Wilson (53 not out off 43 balls) invigorated the innings after making the most of twice being dropped, the Irishman ably supported by Zafar Ansari (15), as they finished their knock on 116-7.
Kent responded positively in reply, the hosts reaching 40 before Sam Billings (18) was trapped leg before by Jade Dernbach.
Azhar Mahmood Sagar followed soon afterwards but there were to be no further breakthroughs for Surrey, as Key (51 off 46) and Stevens (43 off 25) led the Spitfires home.
Stevens hit four sixes in his knock, the final one of which off the bowling of Ansari secured victory with 22 balls to spare.
Source: www1.skysports.com
Kent County Show promises fun for all the family - Kent News
Kent County Show
Sunday, June 17, 2012
2:00 PM
Annual countryside, farming and produce event near Maidstone boasts number of new features
The Kent County Show is promising something for everyone, with spectacular arena displays, food, prize-winning livestock, a feast of flowers and even the chance to fly with a Spitfire.
Next month’s show boasts new additions including Dash ‘n’ Splash, a long jump competition over water for dogs; a beer and cider festival with local brews and a German-style bierkeller; a 4x4 off-road track; and children’s woodland workshops run by the Kent Wildlife Trust.
The event is at the Kent Showground, Detling, Maidstone, from July 13-15, 8am-6pm, Friday-Sunday. It is organised by the Kent County Agricultural Society, and attracts more than 80,000 visitors to one of the UK’s major countryside, farming and produce events.
The range of animals is a major draw and its equine and livestock judging attracts entrants and spectators from far and wide.
Special guests will be Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Caroline Spelman, on Friday; TV presenter Adam Henson will be there on the Saturday to present prizes to winners of the Grown In Kent initiative, which encourages schoolchildren to grow fruit and vegetables; and TV legend John Craven will visit on Sunday.
Arena displays will include the Bolddog Lings motorcycle display team, an historic vehicle display, the Band of the 24th Invicta Rifles, and parades of bloodhounds and beagles.
Special events include the chance to fly in a helicopter alongside a Spitfire, as it takes to the skies over the showground on the Friday.
Another major feature is the Flower Tent with renowned horticultural exhibitors demonstrating their expert growing and nurturing skills, with displays of roses, fuchsias, succulent cacti, carnivorous plants, shrubs, ferns, and much more.
The agricultural area is home to Why Farming Matters In Kent, which offers information about local produce, careers and training in agriculture. Visitors will also be able to see sheep-shearing demonstrations and cattle, horses and goats.
Tickets can be bought online at www.kentshowground.co.uk and via a booking hotline 01622 633060.
Kent Showground executive manager Roger Moore said: “With popular attractions returning and new events making their debuts, the Kent County Show has something for everyone. We would urge people to book their tickets as soon as possible and secure their place at Kent’s most exciting event of the year.”
Source: www.kentnews.co.uk
Divorced men a good catch: report - Sydney Morning Herald
Road to happiness? ... divorce no longer a turn-off for women.
Do divorcés make better potential partners than men who have never married? A New York news station reported last month that divorced might be the new single. According to WABC-TV, perennial bachelors might soon be pitied in the same way that single women over the age of 40 often are.
In the past, divorce was a red flag for many women, a sign that the man involved would come with the baggage of a previous marriage. These days, almost a third of marriages end in divorce. As Samantha Jayne, director of private matchmaking agency, Blue Label Life, points out, eliminating divorced men from the equation can make finding a partner that much harder, especially for women in their early 30s and older.
Divorce has become a part of our social fabric, says RSVP's relationship expert and psychologist, John Aiken. "I think the stigma has really dropped away with regards to divorce. There are more people getting divorced than ever, it's something that's commonplace in the media, with celebrities, and kids are growing up with divorce, they're coming from divorced families," he says. "If someone's divorced, it's not necessarily seen now as something that's a flaw, but rather it's something that's just part of the person."
Eve*, 34, was 30 and still looking to meet "the one" when she decided she would no longer rule out dating a divorced man. "To me, it showed that they could commit and that they should have learned from the first marriage to know exactly what they want the seond time around," she says. Four years later she's happily married to a divorcé she met online, with whom she has a new baby.
Aiken says that more than merely accepting divorcés, women like Eve are now viewing divorced men in a positive light, and with good reason. "Most divorced men are in a better state (than bachelors) to make informed choices, and know how to run relationships in a much better way," he says.
Of the view that divorced men are perhaps more attractive potential partners than long-term single guys, Aiken says it's not so cut-and-dried. "I think you should probably take it on a case-by-case basis," he says. "The 35-year-olds that are single bachelors may not have necessarily met the right person for them, but are able to commit. And then of course there are plenty that are players that aren't ready to commit," he says. Commitment is the key word, and the advantage, in terms of dating divorced men, is that they a track record of having committed in the past.
According to dating coach Jane Roder, there's now more of a stigma attached to 40-something bachelors than there is to divorcés the same age. "My personal view is that the older a man is, if he's single and never been married, he's perceived as having commitment issues," she says. "The single man who's never committed, there's a perception of – why not – why hasn't he done that? Especially in a place like Melbourne, where's there's an excess of women," she says.
Divorced men might have proven that they can commit, but for many men, when it comes to marriage, it would seem that once is enough. Just over half of men who divorced in 2000-2002 could expect to remarry, with some resolving never to do so again after the dissolution of the first marriage, for various reasons. "Hopefully they're not hung up on the past but there is a possibility that they haven't let go of the previous relationship," says Aiken. "There may be financial issues because of the divorce and they're not as stable or secure as they once were," he says.
Then there's the not-so-small matter of children. A divorcé might get the green light, but kids are often a deal-breaker. "It's a big consideration," says Roder. "It depends on the individual. Love can conquer many barriers and many people do it, but it is easier for divorced people without children, I think." If you're wanting kids of your own, it's important to establish early on if a divorcé with kids from a previous marriage is willing to have more children, she says.
Kylie*, 38, married a divorcé, with whom she now has three children. "I think they're better (divorcés) the second time around," she says. "The only catch in my situation was that he also had a three year old, and I had to deal with the ex-wife. After getting used to things, it was all good. We are very happily married."
The reason for the divorce, and how the situation has been dealt with, are other factors to consider. "If he'd cheated, I definitely wouldn't have gone there," says Eve of her divorcé. It's also important that the divorcé has moved on fully before entering another relationship. "The most important thing is that those people have left that relationship and that it's respectful," says Roder. "If they're fighting and still angry with somebody, that's the issue more than anything else because it's a sign that it's unfinished business," she says.
Roder advises people to be very wary of getting involved with someone before a divorce is final. "When somebody has been separated for quite a while and is not divorced, that's a big warning sign," she says. "It's not complete, they're still attached to the past, and for some reason, the umbilical cord hasn't been cut."
According to Jayne, not being the first woman to walk down the aisle with their husband-to-be is still a major deterrant for some women. "Sometimes people get hung up on it, they think, 'I don't want to be that second wife or second husband'" she says. "I think women tend to worry more about it, they have this fairytale idea of what their future husband should look like and what his life experience should be. I don't think men are so concerned, if kids are involved it's an issue but generally men are fine with it."
The experts interviewed in this story agreed that divorce isn't actually the issue, rather, it's whether or not that person is willing and able to commit again. "What I say to single people is that everyone comes as a package," says Aiken. "Some people will be divorced, others will have kids, others might be widowed or they might come with an overinvolved mother. What you've got to do is you've got to stop and think, what are my deal breakers, and what are things that I can embrace," he says.
"It's not about divorce, it's if someone's emotionally available," says Jayne. "A man could be divorced with a lot of emotional baggage or a man who'd previously never married could have the same amount of baggage," she says. "A lot of clients say, I don't want to be with a divorced man because he's fallen in love with someone else. It's all about a person's beliefs."
As she reached an age where more of her potential partners had been divorced, Eve noticed another benefit. "A lot of the good ones who'd married earlier in life had since divorced," she says. "Which meant they were back on the market and getting back out there again," she says.
*other names have been used.
Source: www.smh.com.au
Preview: Kent v Surrey - Kent News
Kent Spitfires play Surrey Lions at Beckenham today. Picture by Ady Kerry.
Greg Miles, Twitter: @greg_KOS_sport
Sunday, June 17, 2012
11:00 AM
Kent Spitfires to take on Surrey Lions in first t20 encounter
Kent will be looking to put a miserable fortnight behind them when they take on Surrey in their first t20 match.
The Spitfires entertain Surrey Lions at Beckenham tomorrow in a 3pm start, weather permitting.
And it’s the weather that has dominated Kent’s preparations for this game, which would have been their second in the competition had Tuesday’s match against Sussex Sharks not been rained off.
The match was originally set to take place at Tunbridge Wells’ Nevill Ground in the final fixture of the cricket festival, but flooding forced a venue change to Canterbury, but it was again rained off.
Surrey however have managed two matches this week in the t20, first on Wednesday they beat Essex by 17 runs, while on Thursday they beat Middlesex by 28 runs on the Duckworth Lewis method.
There have been sixteen matches between the two sides with Surrey having won ten of the encounters. However, after a run of seven victories from the first seven games in the competition, Kent have fared much better, winning six of the last nine.
Last year Kent achieved the double with a six wicket victory at Beckenham with Martin van Jaarsveld and Azhar Mahmood scoring 112 in twelve overs.
At the Oval three weeks later in front of 15,000 Kent won by 15 runs after Mahmood and Darren Stevens clubbed 67 off 33 balls. The crowd that day had been dwarfed three years earlier with a sell-out 23,000 witnessing another fine Kent victory by 13 runs.
The highest aggregate of runs between the two sides in T20 was recorded in 2004 with 367 for 16 wickets on Surrey’s home ground.
Source: www.kentnews.co.uk
Cabbie accused of causing man's death in crash walks free after claiming he had 'sneezing fit' at the wheel - Daily Mail
- Taxi driver said he sneezed seven or eight times which prevented him seeing car in front
By Amy Oliver
|
A taxi driver accused of causing a man's death following a car crash has walked free after claiming he was having a 'sneezing fit'.
Phillip Parker, 38, smashed into Malkit Khatkar's Vauxhall Vectra as he was driving home from work in the early hours of New Year's Day last year.
Mr Khatkar, 70, suffered serious spinal injuries in the accident on the A2 at Wilmington, Kent, before dying two weeks later.
Let off: Phillip Parker, 38, of Chatham, Kent, was left in floods of tears as he was acquitted for causing death by careless driving at Maidstone Crown Court
Mr Parker denied causing death by careless driving, claiming he only hit Mr Khatkar because he sneezed seven or eight times in a row, which prevented him from seeing the car in front.
The taxi driver, of Chatham, Kent, was left in floods of tears as he was acquitted for causing death by careless driving by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday.
Before the verdict, Anthony Prosser, prosecuting, told the court that Parker was at fault and not driving to the 'standard of a careful and competent driver'.
He said: 'The Crown say if he did have a sneezing fit there was at least 30 seconds of visibility of the car in front and plenty of time to brake and do anything to avoid the rear-end collision.
Tragic: Malkit Khatkar, 70, was initially taken to Darent Valley Hospital in Kent suffering spinal injuries but died two weeks later
'The Vectra was there to be seen on a straight stretch of road. The reality is he drove into the back of the car, causing the collision.'
Mr Prosser added if sneezing did not explain the cause, it could have been lack of concentration or tiredness.
There were no independent witnesses to the crash, which happened at about 5.20am on a long straight stretch of the coast-bound carriageway.
Off-duty PC William Parish arrived on the scene just after the collision on the inside lane.
The Vectra had been struck from the rear and spun around. Mr Khatkar had to be cut out.
He was taken to Darent Valley Hospital, in Dartford, Kent and then transferred to Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury, Bucks, on January 16.
Parker, who denied the charge, said in a police interview of his sneezing: 'It didn't well up, it just - bang - happened.'
He said in evidence: 'It was just one after another.'
Asked by Mr Prosser how he missed an object in the road directly ahead of him, he replied: 'All I can tell you is I had a sneezing fit and the car was there.
'It looked like it was stationary and I went into the back of it. I did brake.'
Mr Prosser said it was not possible to say how fast Mr Khatkar was travelling and it was possible his car was stationary at the time of the collision.
Mr Parker, who suffered a broken collarbone, said his speed was about 50-60mph. He denied being tired.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
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