A dressing room summit helped Kent bounce back from their dismal run of four-day form to record their biggest win in more than two years.

Three draws and two heavy defeats – the second a loss by an innings and 11 runs at Cardiff last week – in their previous five games had seen Kent fall away from contention in LV= County Championship, Division 2.

Head coach Jimmy Adams had refused to defend his players after their capitulation.
However, assistant coach Matt Walker and all-rounder Darren Stevens revealed the squad had clear-the-air talks after their third defeat of the season, which helped pave the way for a 10-wicket demolition of Derbyshire inside three days at Canterbury this week.

Stevens – who took nine wickets in the match – said: “Considering we’ve just come off a hiding at Glamorgan, it was pleasing.

“To bounce back like we did shows a lot of character. It was a good team performance. We were massively down. We’ve had a couple of heart-to-heart chats, as you do when you have a big loss like we did at Glamorgan.

“There was a big chat last week, then the boys have gone back-to-basics with their training and there is a lot of positivity.”

Walker admitted: “We haven’t been playing as well as we’d like. We want to be winning – that’s how you’re judged.

“After Glamorgan, we sat down and talked about where we needed to improve.
“We sat down and spoke openly. The players spoke themselves, it didn’t just come from us as coaches.

“They responded brilliantly. Everyone felt they were fair comments said and responded in a positive way.”

He added: “This week we delivered over the three days. The boys addressed what we talked about, put it into practice and deserved the win.”

The win moved Kent back into the top-five and with a trip to basement-boys Leicester up next on July 7, it sparked talk of a charge up the table.

Walker said: “Leicester is another game we’re looking to win. We don’t look too far ahead as coaches but a good win leapfrogs you up in the table. We want to be challenging and in the shake-up in the final three weeks of the season.”