Former Kent captain David Fulton has backed Sam Northeast to take on the captaincy full time should Rob Key decide to relinquish the role permanently, writes Josh Fordham.

Fulton, 43, captained the side between 2002 and 2005 and knows the pressures and difficulties that come with the job and how it can affect your game.

He said: “I have been in Rob Key’s position and you think you have done the captaincy for long enough and it catches up with you.

“You tend not to focus on your own game enough. You find that with captaincy there’s a huge amount of other things you have to think about and can sometimes forget about yourself.

“It is up to Rob to a certain extent, if he decides it is the right time. He is a fine player but his record is better as a player than as a captain.

“Should he decide to step down, Sam has shown he can step up and take over. It is a fantastic feeling to be captain. I remember I was driving somewhere with Matthew Fleming and he let slip that he was thinking of giving up the four-day captaincy and they would like me to do it.

“It is not something you would turn down and Sam would no doubt be proud to take over permanently.”

Northeast is Kent’s leading performer with the bat in the NatWest T20 Blast this season, with 398 runs from seven matches before the Essex game, including a century at Taunton.

If this rich vein of form continues an England call-up could be on the horizon but Fulton thinks Northeast should not allow this to play on his mind if and when he takes over the Kent captaincy full-time.

He said: “Should Sam ever get an England call, they will have to deal with it as and when it comes.

“Sam still has youth on his side and should concentrate on Kent first. He hasn’t been selected for the Lions yet so that is the usual indicator if an England call is likely.”