Sam Northeast said his highest t20 score for Kent was “meaningless” as it came in a game the Spitfires lost but he hopes to make a match-winning contribution against Essex on Friday.

Northeast hit two sixes and five fours in his 61 against Surrey at Canterbury on Sunday – beating his score against Middlesex last summer by one – before being bowled by former team-mate Azhar Mahmood.

The 23-year-old endured a difficult start to the campaign but has found a rich vein of form recently. He admitted: “I always had faith that some runs were going to come, it was a question of when.

“I have put in the hard work in training and hopefully this form continues but I want to be winning games of cricket for Kent. That’s the goal (so that) 60-odd is a little bit meaningless. Hopefully, we can move on to the next game and a match-winning knock.”

Despite seeing senior players like Mark Davies and Geraint Jones left out in favour of the likes of Matt Coles and Sam Billings, Northeast says the younger players deserve their place in the side.

He said: “These guys have earned their place in the team with good performance for the 2nd XI. If Davo and Jonesy were playing, people would probably be saying we need more youth in the team. You can never win in that regard."