KENT captain Rob Key was quick to defend himself against potential ball-tampering allegations on the opening day of the club’s first pre-season friendly.

Soon after the lunch break of Kent’s three-day clash with Nottinghamshire at St Lawrence on Thursday, Key was seen to scrape the surface of the ball with an object taken from his right pocket as he and the Kent fielders changed ends between overs.

This scenario went unnoticed by match umpires John Halliday from Canterbury and Pip Burrows of Sevenoaks, but it was, however, captured by a freelance photographer.

Key later claimed he was simply trying to help three of his rookie bowlers to master the art of reverse swing.

Key, who is entering his second season as county captain, said: "The way the game is moving forward for bowlers nowadays is through reverse swing, so what we’ve tried to do throughout our pre-season nets was to get brand new balls, sand paper one side and let the boys practice bowling. It actually goes really well.

"I won’t be going out and scratching the ball the way I have in this game in a first-class match, but these games are used for practice and are a good opportunity to see where people are.

"It would be a different story if this were a first-class match, it goes without saying you don’t do it. Maybe I’m being a bit naive but it didn’t really occur to me that this might develop into a big match-fixing scandal.

"But such is the way of the world. Whatever gets said, my conscience is clear."