Fleming spoils veterans' day for Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire 232-8 Kent 238-5 Kent win by five wickets

It was something of an oldies show here yesterday There is nothing like an old head on a fit body to set up an interesting match and a trio comprising Gloucestershire's Kim Barnett and Jack Russell and Kent's Matthew Fleming managed just that.

The result of the gathering of elders was that Kent delivered an emphatic knock-out punch to Gloucestershire, the one-time kings of cup cricket, in what turned out to be a rather one-sided Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy quarter-final at the St Lawrence Ground.

Apart from being a triumph for the home county, who had almost half a dozen overs to spare at the end, it was also an opportunity for some golden oldies on show to strut their stuff.

Leading the way was the victorious captain Fleming, who has announced he is to retire at the end of this season, with a fine all-round performance. But at 37 he was the most junior of the three. Pride of place on the batting and age fronts went to Barnett, 42 today.

He was unfortunate that his superlative century ­ the 17th in his limited-overs career that began back in 1979 ­ went for nothing. But at least he and another veteran, Jack Russell, a mere 38, managed to pull Gloucestershire out of the mire and make a game of it, especially after Gloucestershire had found themselves reeling as paceman Martin Saggers whipped out three top-order batsmen in the space of five balls ­ all of them in the fifth over.

Craig Spearman, Ian Harvey and Tim Hancock all departed with the score on 17 and Barnett was left at the foot of what appeared to be a very high mountain. That Barnett went on to scale it owed much to his vast experience, but even he eventually capitulated, becoming Fleming's first victim, having hit a dozen boundaries in his 136-ball innings. Russell was in belligerent mood and had thumped two sixes and a fistful of fours before becoming Fleming's third wicket. In between Mark Hardinges fell to an awesome catch by David Fulton at backward point.

That Russell-Barnett axis, worth 100 runs for the sixth wicket, had swung the advantage Gloucestershire's way, but not for long. If the 3,500 crowd thought they had seen their ration of brutal batting from Russell, Fleming had other ideas.

He had crashed, banged and walloped his way to a flash fifty off 37 balls, before Gloucestershire had had time to take stock. There then followed a couple of blips before first Andrew Symonds (who spent two seasons with Gloucestershire in 1995 and 96), then Fulton restored the steady run flow to keep the target well within their compass.

Fleming paid tribute to Barnett, saying: "The first time I played against Kim was when I turned out for Worcestershire Seconds, before I joined Kent. Kim was coming back from injury and was in the Derbyshire Seconds team. That was back in 1983."

Now, 19 years later it is Fleming who is retiring and Barnett who is talking of carrying on for another two or three years ­ indeed his present contract runs out at the end of next season. Whether he will have run out of runs and enthusiasm by then is a moot point ­ but probably not.