Darren Stevens made his debut for Leicestershire in 1997 at the age of 21, but it was not until 1999 that he played his fourth Championship match, and he marked the occasion by scoring 130 against Sussex at Arundel where his innings received the seal of approval of the watching Lord Cowdrey. His appearances remained spasmodic until middle-order batsmen like Aftab Habib and Ben Smith left the county. He took his chance, impressing many good judges with his clean striking of the ball and earning himself a place in the National Academy squad to go to Australia in 2002-03 and was in the final 30 for that winter's World Cup. After two relatively lean seasons, he left Leicestershire to join Kent at the end of 2004, and was an instant hit scoring an impressive 1277 runs in his first season at Canterbury.
Debashish Biswas August 2006

• Yorkshire outclass Kent (Aug 25, 2008)
  
• Stevens keeps Kent's defence alive (Jul 10, 2008)
  
• van Jaarsveld heaven-sent for Kent (Jul 1, 2008)
  
• Benkenstein and Smith hurt Sussex (May 31, 2008)
  
• Pietersen builds on Tomlinson's efforts (May 7, 2008)
  

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Jul 26, 2008 James Foster pulls off a fine stumping to remove Darren Stevens © Getty Images

Jun 30, 2008 Darren Stevens is caught at short leg off Saqlain Mushtaq © Getty Images

May 31, 2008 Darren Stevens took the attack to Hampshire © Getty Images

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