Ollie Robinson says it felt special to be awarded his Kent county cap by director of cricket Paul Downton.

Robinson was handed Kent men’s cap 222 by Downton, himself a former Kent and England wicketkeeper, on Sunday.

Having come through Kent’s Academy, 23-year-old Robinson made his first-class debut in 2018.

“I have poured my heart and soul into this club since I was 10 or 11-years-old so it’s 13 years of hard work paying off and it’s kind of nice to be rewarded,” said Robinson, who collected his cap at lunch on day one of Kent’s County Championship Division 1 match against fellow strugglers Gloucestershire, a game Kent won by eight wickets.

“I guess you go down in Kent history and nobody can take that away from me now. It, obviously, was a lovely moment.

“It was nice my family could be here as well. It was a really nice touch from [head coach] Matt Walker to let them know.

“It’s a very proud day for me and my family. It was a nice touch from Paul [to hand the cap over to Robinson] as an ex-keeper for Kent and England.

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“He has kind of been in my shoes once before which is nice.”

Robinson follows fellow current Kent players Joe Denly, Darren Stevens, captain Sam Billings, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Alex Blake, Harry Podmore, Zak Crawley, Matt Milnes and Jack Leaning in being awarded a county cap.

He opened the batting for Kent against Gloucestershire but he only scored three in the first innings and a second-innings 22 off 24 balls as he briefly returned from his T20 Blast loan at Durham for the match.

Speaking prior to his first-innings disappointment, he said: “I’m back up top which is a good opportunity for me to score some runs."

Robinson was back at Kent for the County Championship game after joining Durham on loan for the T20 Blast.

Durham sit seventh in the North Group but it's proved a beneficial spell for Robinson who has played all eight games.

“It’s been good fun. It’s been nice to play a good block of T20 cricket and learn about my T20 game,” stated Robinson, whose top score so far is a 34-ball 56 against Yorkshire Vikings.

“I have really enjoyed that, there’s a good group of lads and a good environment up there.”

While Robinson admitted “there is an element” of making the point he wants a place in the Kent T20 side during his loan stint, he is treating it more as a learning experience.

“I think there is, obviously, an element of that as well," he explained.

"But you kind of just play, try and take that away from it and learn about my game rather than actually be bitter about something.

“Actually [I have tried to] flip it and thought ‘What can I actually learn myself from it?’

"That’s the approach I have taken with it.”

The Spitfires are back in T20 Blast action today when they take on Hampshire Hawks at The Ageas Bowl (7pm), as Zak Crawley returns from England duty and is included in the 15-man squad.

Kent then play Middlesex at Lord’s on Sunday before a home fixture against Gloucestershire on Tuesday (7pm).