Seam bowler rejoins Kent

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Seam bowler Matt Milnes makes Kent return on a three-year deal after injury-hit stint at Yorkshire

A seam bowler is to make a Kent comeback on a three-year contract.

Matt Milnes, 31, will return to the county where he made an impact across all formats from 2019 until 2022, having been a part of Spitfires' 2021 T20 Blast-winning team.

Overall, Milnes took 193 wickets during 94 appearances in his first spell as a Kent player before he departed Canterbury at the end of their 2022 summer.

He was awarded Kent men's cap No.220 in September 2021.

The return of the right-armer, named Kent's bowler-of-the-year in 2021, will help fill the void left by fast bowler Nathan Gilchrist, who will leave at the end of this summer for Warwickshire.

But Milnes has struggled for game-time at Yorkshire due to significant back injuries, claiming 34 wickets in just 19 appearances. He has even been playing with a screw in his back.

The former Nottinghamshire player is fit now, though, and returned second-innings figures of 5-31 in Yorkshire's innings County Championship Division 1 victory over Sussex at Scarborough.

Milnes, who has also played in The Hundred competition for Welsh Fire and Sam Billings' Oval Invincible's side, said: "I absolutely loved playing for Kent the first time around and I'll always be proud of being a capped Kent cricketer.

"I'm excited to come back to Kent and join this new project under (head coach) Adam Hollioake. I'm ready to get going in a Kent shirt again next year.

"Once a Spitfire, always a Spitfire."

Director of cricket Simon Cook said: "We're delighted that Milnesy has chosen to come back to Kent.

"He was an extremely big part of our bowling attack during our sustained periods of success in his first time here and he's an extremely talented bowler in both red and white-ball cricket.

"As we plan for the future in our ethos of producing Kent talent, his experience will also be a great boost to us, too."

Milnes' older brother, Ben Milnes, is captain of National League football club Tamworth and played in the FA Cup against Tottenham earlier this year.