Kent Women’s coach Lydia Greenway says the team has worked a lot on the culture at the club after a transitional year in 2017.

After losing their captain, Charlotte Edwards, last season many younger players came into the side to fill the void.

Kent had finished in the top two of the County Championship in every season since 2004 except in 2013 but also missed out last year following a double in 2016.

Their season begins on Sunday with a County Championship match against Yorkshire followed by a second match against Lancashire on Monday, both at Beckenham.

Greenway said: “We did quite a lot of work around our culture. As a coach I made a lot of assumptions that some of the younger girls knew what was expected of them both on and off the pitch.

“It’s something I have learnt that I have to spend time building a good team culture, expectation and team values.

“As a group we spend quite a lot of time doing that together and having senior players like Tammy Beaumont and Laura Marsh share their experience of what makes a good team and that seemed to be a good opportunity to lay those foundations.

“From a team and squad point of view we were in a funny place last year in that we were in a transitional phase. We lost a variety of players, including our captain Charlotte Edwards, and it was a great opportunity for some of our young girls.

“A lot of our young players had to learn very quickly last year as many of them came straight from the under-17s and straight into the Kent team.

“Many of them held their own and it also highlighted to them what they needed to do to play at the highest level.”

Greenway, who took on the role as coach last year, believes there is now a good mix between the experienced players and the younger generation.

Alice Davidson-Richards, 24, is one of those young players who has shined for the club and was rewarded with an England call-up over the winter.

Greenway said: “I’ve really enjoyed making the change from player to coach. It has made me appreciate the role of coaches and their journey can be just as up and down as the players.

“There is quite a good balance in the side between youth and experience. Someone like Alice (Davidson-Richards) has worked really hard and had a bit of time to realise she does want to play for England and has worked really hard and that has earned her a well deserved call-up to the squad.

“Having those players play for the county when they are available to play for the county is invaluable as they are the best people to learn from and see how they go about their business.

“We also have people like Izzy Cloke who is an extremely talented player and technically she is brilliant but she is still very young and learning her trade. A lot of these young girls have the talent and technique and you have to give them time to learn their trade and put in consistent performances.”

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Kent have also been boosted by the signed of New Zealand all-rounder, Arlene Kelly, as overseas player for the season.

Greenway said: “I remember as a younger player whenever we had an overseas player come over it was brilliant as you could just sit and listen to them talking about the game and they have different experiences some of the girls might not have.

“It’s a really exciting period for the girls to have someone like Arlene over and playing for us.”