Harry Podmore

Harry Podmore could truly call Kent home after another successful season in 2019. His workmanlike ability to bowl long, consistent spells put him right among the county's leading first-class wicket-takers and sixth overall in the Championship. This performance, combined with his enthusiastic presence off the field, earned him his county cap. While his allrounder aspirations remained a work in progress, he continued to make inroads with his batting - his unbeaten 54 in a losing cause against Essex the proof. While a T20 spot eluded him in 2019, he settled in as an integral part of Kent's Championship and one-day teams.

Blessed with accuracy and skill rather than great natural pace, minor surgery to relieve a trapped nerve in his elbow at the end of 2017 allowed him to bowl pain-free for the first time in a long while and quicker as a result. Kent's subsequent swoop for Podmore on the eve of the 2018 season finally delivered him the regular seam bowling role that he had been unable to find at Middlesex. He responded by taking 43 wickets in Kent's promotion year, including a career-best 6 for 36 against Middlesex, and expressed the desire to develop into a genuine allrounder after making a century for the Second XI, also against his former county.

Middlesex's disastrous form in Twenty20 cricket in 2014 had handed Podmore an extended opportunity in their side. A product of Middlesex's youth system - he was born in Hammersmith - Podmore impressed with his bowling at the death. Despite his height, he avoided the temptation of bowling too short, and displayed an admirable temperament. He had further opportunities in T20 in 2015.

He was farmed out to Glamorgan on loan to gain experience early in 2016 before returning to Middlesex and claiming four wickets in his first Championship match for them - a thrilling win against Somerset. Glamorgan, Durham 2nd XI and Derbyshire made up his loan commitments in 2017 as he wandered the domestic circuit seeking the satisfaction and security that Middlesex could not give him and Kent eventually could.
ESPNcricinfo staff