Assistant coach Jason Gillespie says Kent will come back stronger after their defeat at Somerset on Tuesday.

Gillespie admitted Kent’s bowling let them down, although the loss of Wayne Parnell to illness after bowling just four overs also hampered their chances, with Joe Denly bowling six overs of spin to fill the void.

Gillespie admitted: “You’re always disappointed when you come out on the wrong side. It was pretty clear both sides batted pretty well. It was a good challenge for bowlers.

“When we came off the ground we said we needed to keep the stumps in play as much as possible, bowl straight and look to hit that pitch really hard.

"We probably didn’t quite get our skills right there, particularly early on. It was not through lack of effort – sometimes it doesn’t quite go your way.

“The big lesson to take from this game is we need to adapt quicker to situations. We’ve talked about that first 10-15 overs, maybe we didn’t quite adapt quick enough to the conditions and we were probably a fraction wide.

“They scored a lot of runs off the front foot and wider deliveries. “It’s something we can learn from and adjust our lines and lengths before our next game.

“We did do a lot of good things in the game but unfortunately we haven’t quite come out on top.”

Despite the loss, the game will long be remembered for Kent’s batting prowess, with Gillespie adding: “I thought Daniel (Bell-Drummond) batted beautifully up top, Sam Northeast supported him well and Alex Blake, wow, what a knock. That was pretty special.

“He played traditional cricket shots, he went over cover, down the ground and over wide mid-on. It was pretty simple. Then when there was some width on offer he accessed the point region. I thought he did it wonderfully."

Sussex visit the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, tomorrow (Friday, 11am) with Middlesex to follow on Sunday (11am) and a trip to Gloucestershire on Wednesday.

Gillespie claimed: “The lads will learn from this, there’s no doubt about that. They’ll dust themselves off and go again for the next challenge on Friday. We’ll look forward to that."