Davies turns to the man behind Jonny
SEAMER Mark Davies is relying on the man who made Jonny Wilkinson a national hero to help Kent to promotion.
New signing Davies, 31, was on the verge of making it with England a few years ago before injury struck.
But he recruited Steve Black, the mentor to World Cup-winning idol Willkinson, as a personal trainer and now he's reaping the rewards.
Davies said: "I'm fully fit and flying. I trained in the winter and employed Steve Black, the man who's worked with Jonny Wilkinson, as my personal trainer.
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"Steve is a massively well-known man up north and he's worked with Arsenal, Newcastle and the Lions rugby boys.
"I needed to get myself fit and right, which I hadn't been for a few years.
"Steve knows what he's doing – he's brilliant to work with and he goes about things in a different way.
"He's helped me and my game massively. I've already bowled more overs this season than I probably have in the last three years put together.
"In 2010, I went on a Test tour to South Africa with England but even then I wasn't 100 percent right. It was a great experience and I loved every second of it.
"To watch how the England lads go about their game was brilliant and I think I overachieved to get there really.
"I have always given cricket my best shot, but to be honest I've never really backed myself, so to be given that honour was a big surprise. I was chuffed and it was a proud moment for me and my family.
"We've had a great start to the season, but there's a lot of cricket to be played yet.
"But I can't see why we can't push for promotion as we've got strength in depth and we're an ambitious group."
Davies had a year left on his contract at Durham before Jimmy Adams touched base with him. It was a move that came just at the right time.
He explained: "I'd struggled really badly in the last three years at Durham and I just couldn't get on the park.
"I had an ankle problem and it kept coming back. I knew Jimmy was moving to Kent and Durham had made it clear that I wasn't in their plans. I was keen to play cricket and they were going with younger guys.
"It's a tough place to be a fast bowler up there. They've always had a massive crop of fast bowlers. Players like Graham Onions, Steve Harmison, Liam Plunkett and Mitchell Claydon are all top class, first-class cricketers.
"I enjoyed my 11 years there but the move was a no brainer."
Davies is carrying a lot of the burden with the ball at Kent but his body is holding up fine.
He added: "It's been a tough start. We made Yorkshire follow on but the ball wasn't zipping around everywhere and for the bowlers it was a nightmare.
"We were out in the field a long time and it was a test for the body. Against Gloucester we had to bowl on all four days but I'm feeling fine."
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