Kent assistant coach Matt Walker is optimistic about the start of the Spitfires’ NatWest T20 Blast campaign, despite the strength of the opposition his side will come up against.

Sussex Sharks visit The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, on Friday (7pm) with England international Luke Wright and Mahele Jayawardene among their ranks, while his Sri Lankan team-mate Kumar Sangakkara will face Kent for Surrey this year with other players set to feature in the South Group including Chris Gayle of the West Indies, New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder, Aussies Shaun Tait and Adam Voges, South African Jacques Rudolph and Pakistan bowler Yasir Arafat.

Walker admitted: “You look at the sides we are going to be playing against and they are going to be strong with overseas players of high quality.

“We haven’t got any of those but what we have got is a tight unit of young players who want to play T20 cricket.”

He added: “We’ve got some exciting players and it only takes one or two people to have a big day and all of a sudden you’ve got yourself in a winning position.

“It’s great that we’ve got match-winners in the likes of David Griffiths, Sam Billings and Darren Stevens – when you have them, anything is possible.”

Walker said he was “pretty optimistic,” adding: “We showed at times last year that we can mix it with the best.

“This is another year on and hopefully we can use that experience to get ourselves in a good position in this competition and from then on, who knows?

“We’re still quite a young side in this format and we’re looking to see that development and hopefully we can progress this year.”

He added: “We want to win on Friday. T20 is a game that if you get on to a roll, especially early on, then anything can happen. We’ve seen it both ways over the years at Kent.”

Rob Key is set to miss the game and Monday’s LV= County Championship Division 2 trip to Gloucestershire after leaving himself out in a bid to find form.

Walker added: “I think it will be fairly similar to the side we saw against Glamorgan this week.

“Mitch Claydon will put himself in the shake-up, though, Adam Ball as well. David Griffiths has been bowling well and hopefully he can have a clear run and not be plagued by niggles and injuries.”