Sam Northeast says he is excited about Kent’s prospects for 2016 after the release of next summer’s fixtures.

It was revealed on Wednesday that for the second time in three years, Kent will begin their 2016 County Championship, Division 2 season at Worcester on Sunday, April 10.

Skipper Northeast said: “Obviously you know who you’re going to be playing anyway (during the season) but you want to know who you’re coming up against early to see if it gives you the chance to get on a roll.

“Worcester have been good on their own turf in recent years. We want to be firing in the first game otherwise it will be tough.

“I’m excited about the season. After the losses in the T20 and One-Day Cup (quarter-finals), I felt like I wanted next season to start straight away. We are all wanting to get out there and put things right.”

Northeast admitted the depth of Kent’s squad will be tested during a 172-day campaign, with one 13-day spell in June and July featuring four T20 Blast South Group games, two Championship clashes and just one rest day, spread between Canterbury, Chelmsford, Taunton and Bristol.

He said: “There’s a long way to go to find the perfect schedule – from a player’s perspective at least – but I haven’t got the answer.

“It’s tough on players but we have to deal with it. Having a good squad becomes a factor because although you want to play your best side every game, you are going to have to rotate players with a workload like this.

“Fortunately, we have a good squad now and can afford to lose one or two and have quality ready to come in but our physios have an important job to keep people on the park.”

Northeast hopes the new ECB trial of scrapping the coin toss and asking away captains to opt whether to bowl first “is going to be good for us.”

He added: “We know we will not be going away to find pitches with a green top or whatever. It makes it a fair contest and that’s what you want – bat and ball to be on a level playing field.

“We were all a bit bitter about a couple of games last year so this is a good move. Something had to happen.”

Head coach Jimmy Adams did, though, sound a note of caution, saying: “I’m not sure this deals adequately with the issue of poor wickets.

“A team may consider themselves favourites to exploit a poor wicket, irrespective of whether they bat or bowl first.”