Kent’s cricketers have been handed their fixtures for the 2009 season and there are many entertaining matches in prospect. The county open the new season on April 15 with a three-day University match against Loughborough at Canterbury.

Their opening Championship Division 2 game starts on April 21, when Northamptonshire are the visitors to Canterbury.

There are two Twenty20 matches at Beckenham - Middlesex Crusaders on Friday, May 29 and the Sussex Sharks two days later.

In all, Kent will play five floodlit matches - three in the Twenty20 Cup (all away) and two in the NatWest Pro40 (away at Leicestershire Foxes and at home to the Surrey Brown Caps on Thursday, August 27.

Essex are the visitors for this year’s Tunbridge Wells festival.

The County Championship match starts on Tuesday, June 16.

In August, Middlesex are the visitors for Canterbury Cricket Week. The County Championship match starts on Wednesday, August 5, with the NatWest Pro40 match taking place on Sunday, August 9.

Kent end the Championship season with a home game against Leicestershire at Canterbury, starting on September 15.

The scheduled final day of the season is on September 27 when the Spitfires welcome the Northamptonshire Steelbacks to Canterbury.

The full fixture list can be found at www.kentccc.com