KENT beneficiary Matthew Walker is looking forward to a busy and successful season on and off the pitch in 2008

The popular left hander, who celebrates his 34th birthday on January 2, launches his year with a sell-out lunch a fortnight later at the Ramada Hotel in Hollingbourne near Maidstone.

He said: "Everyone keeps telling me it’s going to be the hardest year of my life but I hope to get the balance right and make sure my cricket doesn’t suffer.

"I have also got the best benefit co-ordinator in the business as Samantha Davis is working for me."

Walker is set to enjoy a family Christmas at home in Whitstable with wife Claudia, Charlie (5) and 11-month-old Lexie.

Kent skipper Rob Key and family are set to become neighbours in the New Year, while David Fulton, Martin Saggers and physio Nimmo Reid also live nearby.

He joins the staff at St Edmund’s School in Canterbury in the New Year, coaching hockey and cricket.

He said: "This is my sixth year, and it’s a great job and I love it – the perfect combination of sport and teaching – before linking up with the rest of the Kent lads for pre-season training."