Kent Cricket Club chief executive Paul Millman says fans at Canterbury's St Lawrence Ground will be in for a treat next summer.

The county open the new season on April 15 with a three-day University match against Loughborough at Canterbury and their opening Championship Division 2 game starts on April 21, when Northamptonshire are the visitors.

Mr Millman is particularly delighted the fixtures, which were released last Thursday, will see Kent playing back-to-back Championship games against Derbyshire and Middlesex.

Derbyshire are the visitors on Friday, July 31 and Middlesex arrive for Canterbury Cricket Week.

The Championship match starts on Wednesday, August 5, with the NatWest Pro40 match taking place on Sunday, August 9.

Mr Millman said: “It has all the makings of a terrific Canterbury Week. Playing back-to-back Championship matches at Canterbury at the beginning of August is exciting and terrific news.”

Kent will also host the touring Australians on the weekend on August 15-16 for a two-day game at Canterbury. However, the England Lions will provide the opposition for Ricky Ponting’s team should Kent reach the Twenty20 finals day at Edgbaston on August 15.

“When you step back from the emotion of playing in Division 2, there are going to be some good, competitive matches. We start against Northants who we haven’t played for a year or two and we also play the likes of Surrey, Middlesex and Leicestershire,” added Mr Millman.

However, Mr Millman is disappointed that Festival Week at The Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells, will not include a one-day game. Essex visit for a Championship match from Tuesday, June 16 but there will be no Pro40 League game.

There are two Twenty20 matches at Beckenham - Middlesex Crusaders on Friday, May 29 and Sussex Sharks two days later.

In all, Kent will play five floodlit matches - three in the Twenty20 Cup (all away) and two in the NatWest Pro40 (away at Leicestershire Foxes and at home to the Surrey Brown Caps on Thursday, August 27).

Kent end the Championship season with a home game against Leicestershire at Canterbury, starting on September 15.

The scheduled final day of the season is on September 27 when the Spitfires welcome the Northamptonshire Steelbacks to Canterbury in the Pro40 League.

The full fixture list can be found at www.kentccc.com