Darren Stevens: Kent all-rounder, 44, signs one-year extension

Darren Stevens this week fell one wicket short of a five-for in three successive games

Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens has signed a new contract until the end of the 2021 campaign, taking him beyond his 45th birthday.

He is England's oldest first-class cricketer, taking 20 wickets from four Bob Willis Trophy matches this summer - including seven at Surrey this week.

Stevens, 44, has spent 16 years at Kent after making his first-class debut for Leicestershire in 1997.

His coach Matt Walker says he wants to play "for a few more years yet".

"Darren Stevens keeps performing. He's an experienced head and is still a very fine bowler," Walker told BBC Radio Kent.

"When you are defending just under 200 you have to have a good start with the ball and who better than Stevo to get it for us? He's just remarkable."

Stevens is the oldest man to hit a County Championship double century since 1949 and the oldest seam bowler to take 10 wickets in a first-class match since 1968.

He has 15,710 career first-class runs and 537 wickets but nearly left Kent after last season - spending time on loan at Derbyshire before the county did a U-turn, offering him a new deal following a spectacular late season run of form.

"I love playing for this county and it's no secret that I didn't want this shortened season to be the way I finished up," said Stevens.

"I'm feeling great at the moment and really driven."