In 2016,

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

competed in Division Two of the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

, the

Royal London One-Day Cup The Royal London One-Day Cup is a fifty-over limited overs cricket competition for the England and Wales first-class counties. It began in 2014 as a replacement for the ECB 40 tournament, which ran from 2010 to 2013. In contrast to its 40-ove ...

and the

NatWest t20 Blast The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

. The season was the fifth, and last, in charge for head coach

Jimmy Adams James Clive Adams OD (born 9 January 1968) is a former Jamaican cricketer, who represented the West Indies as player and captain during his career. He was a left-handed batsman, left-arm orthodox spin bowler and fielder, especially in th ...

and the first for new club captain

Sam Northeast Sam Alexander Northeast (born 16 October 1989) is an English professional cricketer who plays for Glamorgan County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman. Northeast made his senior debut in 2007 and until 2017 played for Kent County Cricket ...

, who took over from Robert Key at the end of the 2015 season, having captained the side on the field for much of the season.Sam Northeast: Kent appoint batsman as club captain
BBC Sport website, 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2015-09-30.

Sam Billings Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

continued to be selected for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

limited overs squads, although he had to settle for only three appearances in 2016. On 21 February, he played in the second of two

T20I A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

matches at the end of the South Africa tour, scoring 5 runs in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. Billings was selected in England's squad for the

2016 World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...

in India, but did not play during the tournament other than as a substitute fielder.England World T20 squad: Liam Dawson in, Chris Woakes out
BBC Sport website, 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2017-01-22. On 5 July, he featured in the only T20I during Sri Lanka's tour of England. Billings played a single ODI, the final match of three during England's tour of Bangladesh, on 12 October at

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

, opening the batting with a useful 62 in a four wicket win. Sam Northeast won the club's Player of the Year award, having scored over 2,000 runs across all formats for a second successive season.Sam Northeast and Suzie Bates win player of the year 2016

, 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2017-04-19.

Squad

Departures

In October 2015, Kent Cricket Academy graduate and England Under-19 wicket-keeper

Ryan Davies Ryan Davies (22 January 1937 – 22 April 1977) was a Welsh comedian, actor, musician, singer, and songwriter. Though his career lasted just 11 years, he became widely known in Wales through his work with Ronnie Williams as the comedic double a ...

left the club, signing for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in search of more regular first XI cricket.Ryan Davies signs for Somerset

, 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2016-04-04.Chris Rogers: Somerset sign ex-Australian Test opener for 2016
BBC Sport, 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2016-04-05. All-rounder Ben Harmison was released in February after four seasons with Kent.Ben Harmison leaves Kent

, 2016-02-25. Retrieved 2016-04-04.Ben Harmison: Kent release all-rounder
BBC Sport, 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2016-04-05. On 18 April 2016, former captain

Rob Key Robert William Trevor Key (born 12 May 1979) is an English former cricketer and cricket commentator who played international cricket in all formats for England and domestic cricket for Kent County Cricket Club. He is the current Managing Direct ...

announced his retirement from playing.Rob Key: Kent and former England batsman retires
BBC Sport, 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2016-04-18. Key had spent his entire career with Kent and captained the side for nine years over two spells. He also represented

at international level, and scored a total of 19,419 first-class runs since his debut in 1998.Rob Key retires
Kent County Cricket Club, 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2016-04-18. Following the end of the season, fast bowlers David Griffiths and Sam Weller were released by Kent, neither having their contracts renewed,David Griffiths: Fast bowler departs Kent after three seasons
BBC Sport, 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2016-09-26. whilst 40-year old all-rounder

Darren Stevens Darren Ian Stevens (born 30 April 1976) is an English cricketer. An all-rounder, he bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium-pace. In first-class cricket, he has scored over 16,000 runs and since the age of 35 has taken over 500 wickets an ...

signed a new one-year contract to extend his time at the county.Darren Stevens: Kent all-rounder signs new contract
BBC Sport, 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2016-10-17. In October head coach

also left the county to return to his native

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

.Jimmy Adams: Kent head coach leaves after five seasons in charge
BBC Sport, 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2016-10-17. After his loan spell, Will Gidman signed a permanent contract with Kent in October 2016 having been released by Nottinghamshire.Will Gidman: Kent sign Nottinghamshire all-rounder after loan spell
BBC Sport, 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-10-24.Will Gidman signs for Kent following his release by Nottinghamshire
''

Kent Online KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM ...

'', 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-10-24.

Arrivals

Former

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

wicket-keeper

Adam Rouse Adam Paul Rouse (born 30 June 1992) is a Zimbabwean-born English former professional cricketer. Rouse played as a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper, although he was considered versatile enough to play solely as a specialist bats ...

signed for Kent in January on a two-year contract.Kent sign wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Rouse

, 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2016-04-04. Rouse had previously played for Kent's Second XI in 2014, and returned for a trial in April 2015 as cover for

.Kent sign wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Rouse
, ''Kent News'', 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2016-04-05.Adam Rouse: Kent agree deal with wicketkeeper-batsman
BBC Sport website, 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2016-04-05. Billings missed almost the first two months of the season due to being drafted by the

Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadiu ...

franchise for the 2016 Indian Premier League season.Indian Premier League: Jos Buttler bought by Mumbai Indians
BBC Sport website, 2016-02-06. Retrieved 2016-06-01. In February, Kent announced the signing of two overseas players. First the club announced that South African fast bowler

Kagiso Rabada Kagiso Rabada (born 25 May 1995) is a South African international cricketer who plays all formats of the game. He is a right arm fast bowler. He made his international debut in November 2014 in limited-overs cricket before going on to make his ...

would have a spell with Kent from late June until the end of July, between international commitments. The young bowler impressed during England's tour of South Africa, which had recently concluded.Kent sign South Africa's Kagiso Rabada

, 2016-02-18. Retrieved 2016-04-04.Kagiso Rabada: Kent sign South Africa fast bowler
BBC Sport, 2016-02-18. Retrieved 2016-04-05. A few days later, the club announced the signing of New Zealand international batsman Tom Latham to play in all three competitions during the season.Kent: New Zealand's Tom Latham signs for 2016
BBC Sport, 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2016-04-05.Kent sign Tom Latham for 2016 season

, 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2016-04-04. Latham's last match before joining up with his national team for a tour of Zimbabwe was a T20 fixture against Gloucestershire on 8 July. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, the squad had not featured anyone classified as an overseas player.Kent hopeful overseas aces can boost bid for promotion spot
''Canterbury Times'', 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-04-05. After Rouse suffered a hand injury in June, and Billings was called into the England T20 squad, former

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

wicket-keeper

Callum Jackson Callum Frederick Jackson (born 7 September 1994) is an English professional cricketer who played most recently as a wicket-keeper for Kent County Cricket Club. Jackson made his first-class cricket debut for Sussex County Cricket Club in a three- ...

was signed in early July. Kent would otherwise have been without a wicket-keeper in their County Championship match against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

at the beginning of the month.County Championship: Alastair Cook makes 49 after Essex dismiss Kent
BBC Sport, 2016-07-03. Retrieved 2016-10-17. Jackson had played as a substitute wicket-keeper during the Championship match at

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

in June following Rouse's injury.Jackson answers Kent's emergency call

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

, 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2016-10-17. In late July, Kent announced the signing of Will Gidman from

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

on a one-month loan deal. The former

all-rounder had recently returned from injury and would be available for four One-Day Cup games and two County Championship matches.Will Gidman: Kent sign Nottinghamshire all-rounder on loan
BBC Sport, 2016-07-23. Retrieved 2016-07-24. Captain

stated that Gidman's signing would bolster the side's resources with

Calum Haggett Calum John Haggett (born 30 October 1990) is an English first-class cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club. An all-rounder, he bowls right-arm medium pace, and bats left-handed. He made his debut for Somerset in the 2010–11 Caribb ...

and

Fabian Cowdrey Fabian Kruuse Cowdrey (born 30 January 1993) is an English former professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club. He made history by becoming the first third generation player to play for the county, following his father, Chris ...

unavailable through injury.Gidman joins Kent on a Notts loan deal
Cricinfo, 2016-07-23. Retrieved 2016-07-24. Having impressed during this spell, Gidman's loan deal was extended for the remaining three matches of the season.Gidman loan extended as Kent name unchanged squad v Sussex
Kent County Cricket Club, 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2016-09-01. On 19 August, Kent announced the signing of South Africa international fast-bowler

Hardus Viljoen GC Viljoen (born 6 March 1989), known as Hardus Viljoen,Borland K (2016Viljoen desperate to earn a place in the national team, '' The Citizen'', 4 July 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016. is a South African professional cricketer. Viljoen played for ...

as the overseas player for the final four County Championship matches of the season, with the club citing a number of injuries to bowlers over the course the season as the reason for the signing.Hardus Viljoen: Kent sign South Africa fast bowler
BBC Sport, 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-19.Kent sign South Africa fast bowler Hardus Viljoen for the final four matches of the Championship season
Kent Online, 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-19.

Squad list

* Ages given as of the first day of the

2016 County Championship The 2016 County Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2016 Specsavers County Championship), was the 117th cricket County Championship season. It was announced in March 2016 that the 2017 season would feature only eight teams in Divi ...

season, 10 April 2016.

County Championship

Kent played 16

matches in 2016, playing once at home and once away against each of the other eight counties in Division Two. Six home matches were played at the

St Lawrence Ground The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent. It is the home ground of Kent County Cricket Club and since 2013 has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, due to commercial sponsorship. It is one of the oldest grounds ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, with one match at both the

Nevill Ground The Nevill Ground is a cricket ground at Royal Tunbridge Wells in the English county of Kent. It is owned by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and is used by Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club in the summer months and by Tunbridge Wells Hockey Club in t ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

and the

County Cricket Ground, Beckenham The County Ground, Beckenham is a cricket ground in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley. The ground is owned by Leander Sports and Leisure and is used as an outground by Kent County Cricket Club for First XI fixtures, as well as for othe ...

. The county won five games, drew eight and lost only twice in the Championship, finishing second to

Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when ...

. In previous years a second-place finish would have led to promotion to Division One of the Championship, but 2016 saw a rebalancing of the number of teams in each division and, as a result, only one team was promoted. Kent's match against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

at New Road in April was abandoned without a ball bowled due to a water-logged outfield. This match was classed as a draw and five points were awarded to each side.County Championship: Worcestershire-Kent abandoned without a ball being bowled
BBC Sport, 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2016-04-13.

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, who had finished 4th in Division One, were deducted 48 points by the ECB at the end of the season as a result of their financial problems. This resulted in their relegation to Division Two.Durham relegated to second division after ECB's points deduction
Sky Sports, 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2017-01-22. The ECB announced that

, who had finished 8th in Division One, would be reprieved from relegation. Kent chairman, George Kennedy, launched an appeal claiming that Kent should be promoted instead of this reprieve for Hampshire given the one-off scenario of the runners-up of Division Two missing out on promotion in 2016.Kent seek legal advice after missing out on promotion
Cricinfo, 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2017-01-21.Kent contest ECB's decision not to promote them to Division One
Sky Sports, 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2017-01-21. The ECB did not change their decision, meaning that Kent will remain in Division Two for the 2017 season.

Division Two

Matches

Other first-class match

Kent played a three-day match with first-class status against

Loughborough MCC University Loughborough MCC University (previously known as Loughborough University Centre of Cricketing Excellence) is a cricket coaching centre based at Loughborough University in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, and the name under which the univers ...

before the start of the

season. Daniel Bell-Drummond scored his maiden first-class double century on day one, but only 6.3 overs were possible on day two due to rain, and the match ended in a draw.Bell-Drummond at the double for Kent
''Kent Sports News'', 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2016-04-05.

Royal London One-Day Cup

Kent began their 2016 Royal London One-Day Cup campaign with a match against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

at the County Ground,

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

on Sunday 5 June.2016 One-Day Cup fixtures
BBC Sport website. Retrieved 2016-04-04. They played 8 games in the group stage of the competition, finishing in second place and securing a home quarter-final against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Kent lost the quarter-final by 11 runs, being bowled out chasing Yorkshire's score of 256.One-Day Cup: Yorkshire edge out Kent by 11 runs in quarter-final

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2017-01-21.Edwards P (2017
Plunkett's four wickets edge Yorkshire through tense tie

, 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2017-01-21.

South Group

Matches

Quarter-finals

NatWest t20 Blast

Kent began their

t20 Blast The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

campaign in the South Group with a match against

at the

on Friday 20 May.2016 t20 Blast fixtures
BBC Sport website. Retrieved 2016-04-04. They played 14 games in the group stage of the competition, winning six and failing to qualify for the knock-out stages after losing their final two matches. As well as five home matches at Canterbury, a single match was hosted at each of

and

South Group

Matches

Statistics

Batting

Source: Cricinfo Source: CricInfoSeason 2016 - Kent / Records / List A matches / Most runs

. Retrieved 2016-08-22. Source: CricInfoSeason 2016 - Kent / Records / Twenty20 matches / Most runs

. Retrieved 2016-07-30.

Bowling

Source: CricInfoSeason 2016 - Kent / Records / First-class matches / Most wickets

. Retrieved 2016-09-25. Source: CricInfoSeason 2016 - Kent / Records / List A matches / Most wickets

. Retrieved 2016-08-23. Source: CricInfoSeason 2016 - Kent / Records / Twenty20 matches / Most wickets

. Retrieved 2016-07-30.

References

External links

Kent home
at ESPN cricinfo
Kent County Cricket Club official site
{{2016 English cricket season

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 in English cricket