Skipper Sam Northeast says he has no idea how he’s going to pick a side to follow up Kent's thrilling championship win at Derbyshire which briefly took them top of the table this week.

Against all the odds, Kent somehow turned the tide at Derby from staring at following-on on the third day to winning by seven wickets three balls before tea on the final afternoon and with rain clouds all around the County Ground.

The victory was brought up by three straight sixes from Alex Blake but owed much to Sean Dickson carrying his bat for 207 not out in their first innings reply and four-wicket bursts from James Tredwell and Calum Haggett on the final morning.

Northeast said: “We’ve gone from looking like possibly missing the follow-on late on the third day, so to come out having won the game is an incredible achievement.

“When you have got a quality spinner like Tredders going into the fourth-day then there is always the chance that things can happen – and quickly.

“The result is the culmination of four days of hard work and it is rewarding to have come out on top.”
Kent are set to have opener Tom Latham and all-rounder Darren Stevens back from knocks and keeper Sam Billings returning from the IPL for the Specsavers County Championship game against Leicestershire at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, from Sunday (11am).

Northeast claimed: “I have no idea what we are going to do. It’s a complete headache for me after a game like that but I suppose it’s a good position to be in.

“We are in the fortunate position that our top five have all scored hundreds – or in Latham’s case come close on more than one occasion. It’s not a position that Kent have been in too often.”

The win temporarily took Kent top of the table, although Essex reclaimed first place later in the day and Northeast claimed: “It is a good start to the season but there is still a lot of cricket to play.”

He added: “For once the weather has done us a favour. We wanted that win and didn’t want to get to the tea interval, as it was it started raining as soon as we got off.
“For once, someone was looking down on us.”