Spin-king Tredwell takes heart but laments soft touch

The Kent spinner destroyed Yorkshire's title chances with a devastating spell of 7-22 including a hat-trick that helped Kent to a four-wicket win.

They were figures and an outcome that on any other day would have been cause for much celebration in the visiting dressing room, but with Warwickshire winning at Hampshire, Kent's victory was in vain as they were condemned to relegation to Division Two.

Nevertheless, Tredwell is confident his team can take such promising form into the start of next season.

"It was a brilliant end to proceedings," said the 28-year-old. "Everyone was so happy to win the game. Sadly, despite winning at Headingley, we have gone down but we have finished strongly in all competitions now.

"We did it in the Friends Provident t20, in the Clydesdale Bank 40 and now in this competition too. Hopefully we can take this into next season and start 2011 well.

"Everyone is bitterly disappointed to go down but hopefully we can come straight back up – just as we did last season."

Tredwell's hat-trick spanned two overs – a fact that he feels helped him control the expectations – and came during a critical spell which saw Yorkshire surrender nine wickets in 44 minutes, and their hopes of winning the title.

"I was delighted to get the hat-trick," said Tredwell.

"With it spanning across a couple of overs, I think I was the only one on the field who realised it was a hat-trick ball.

"Seriously, it was great to do it for the first time and to help swing the game. It's certainly up there with all that I've achieved.

"It was good for me to get the seven wickets. We moved from the thoughts of trying to set up a game into actually thinking that we could win it. To do it so convincingly in the end was great for us all."

Had they been as dominant in the earlier matches Kent might not have found themselves in such a dire predicament in the standings, a reality Tredwell attributes to their inability to finish teams off, a trait that nearly stung them again yesterday as Yorkshire reduced them to 86-6 before the winning four was struck.

"We've been in lots of good positions to win matches, but have lacked a bit of concentration and that killer instinct," admitted Tredwell who along with Yorkshire's spin-king Adil Rashid harbours hopes of being on the England plane to Australia in two months time.