Michael Hogan is a long way from his family in Australia but the veteran Kent bowler has a team-mate who knows plenty about growing up Down Under too.

Hogan hails from Newcastle, New South Wales, but qualifies as a domestic English cricketer.

Despite fellow Kent player Grant Stewart being an Italian international due to his mother’s background, he comes from a similar area.

Hogan revealed: “My house is about 20 minutes away from Grant’s parents!

“I don’t think we have ever ran into each other in Newcastle, although I’ve played against him at Kent. It’s weird how things work out.

“We’re both, pretty much, from the same area and we’ve ended up in Kent together.”

That connection could help Hogan if he does become homesick, although the 41-year-old is used to being away from loved ones for periods and looks to have settled in quickly with his new side.

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“You sort of get used to it a little bit as a cricketer,” he said.

“It can be tricky but the environment couldn’t have been more welcoming.

“Since I’ve got here, if there’s anything that I have needed, there’s always someone on hand to help you out.

“It’s been brilliant.”

Seamer Hogan re-thought plans to retire last summer after he opted to depart Glamorgan, as he joined Kent for their 2023 summer.

Hogan, who was unbeaten at the end of Kent's second innings in their agonising defeat to Warwickshire, explained: “It was a bit of a strange one.

“Towards the back-end of last year, Kent were looking for an experienced bowler and I think they had other options in mind that didn’t quite pan out. Someone asked the question and it went from there.

“It was a bit eye-opening, and took some thought and some planning for us. As a family, we were going to move home.

"But when I thought about it, I just thought ‘Why not?’ It’s a good move.

"I liked the idea that Walks [head coach Matt Walker] and the director of cricket, Paul Downton, pitched to me. It’s a good option.

“It wasn't straightforward. My family have stayed in Australia.

“It’s taken a lot of planning and organising of certain things over there so that it could run as best as possible - otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible for us.

“It wasn’t an easy decision but, in the end, we got there and we’re in a pretty good space.

“It’s still going to be tough but I’m happy.”

Right-armer Hogan played his part when Kent made a winning start to their County Championship season at The Spitfire Ground, beating Northamptonshire by seven wickets.

He took 2-56 and 1-93 on debut in a victory earned despite Kent only taking five wickets on day three and he got through another 21 overs (0-78) against Warwickshire.

“I have played a bit here before as the away team and there’s always something there if you hang around long enough,” he noted.

“On day three [against Northamptonshire], we probably did enough to take a few more wickets and I thought we were a bit unlucky.

“But it’s also a pitch, if you apply yourself with the bat on it, you can score runs on. It’s a good cricket wicket.

“It was good to hit the ground running - I wasn’t banking on bowling 34 overs in a day - but we’ll take that!

“You just have to take the good with the bad.”

Hogan will also be part of the club’s coaching set-up during their defence of the Royal London One-Day Cup.

While Hogan isn't sure if that’s the path he wants to take after retirement, it's something he would be keen to learn about.

“I’ll be doing a little bit of mentoring there,” he said.

“I’m not sure if that’s the progression my career will take, into coaching, but I guess there’s not many opportunities you get while you’re still playing to be involved in that sort of stuff.

“It’s interesting to take more interest in how the coaches go about it - with their planning, their structure and stuff.

“I’m looking forward to that.”

Kent face third-placed Essex in County Championship Division 1 in Canterbury from tomorrow, having now played two in 2023 - won one and lost one - after their defeat to Warwickshire by an innings and 14 runs.

The hosts posted 453-4 declared at Edgbaston and, despite skittling Kent for 158 and enforcing the follow-on, a strong Kent rearguard gave them a chance to scramble through for a draw.

But all-rounder Joey Evison edged behind on 99 with less than 40 balls left of the final day after opener Ben Compton (88) had backed up his ton against Northamptonshire.

Hogan finished the second innings four not out in their total of 281.