Daniel Bell-Drummond says he will remember the week of his highest championship score and Friends Life t20 debut for years to come.

The 19-year-old scored a LV= County Championship-best 79 in the Division 2 draw against Hampshire last Wednesday before top scoring with 27 in the Spitfires’ superb win at the Royals four days later.

He said: “It was a brilliant week. We didn’t get the win we were looking for in the championship but from my point of view, it’s been a really enjoyable week, one I’ll remember for a long time.”

Bell-Drummond did admit to some frustration that he wasn’t able to join Rob Key and Brendan Nash into three figures against Hampshire, particularly as he’d also missed out on a big score at Cheltenham where Kent recorded their first win the previous weekend against Gloucestershire.

He said: “I was unhappy to get out. I’d done all the hard work the day before but I lost patience and chased a wide one. I will log it and learn from it next time.”

Bell-Drummond and 2nds team-mate and long-time friend Fabian Cowdrey were introduced to the t20 side in place of Key and Sam Northeast for the trip to Southampton on Sunday and Bell-Drummond admitted: “I wanted to get the opportunity to show what I can do but my main goal was to help the team. I was honoured to get the role on Sunday and want the chance to do it again.

“It looks like they’re going to stick with us for a while. I want to play in every game that I
can.”