Kent spinner James Tredwell says he is hugely honoured to have been granted a benefit year in 2017.

The 34-year-old England international made his Kent debut in 2001 and has taken around 800 wickets in all forms of the game for the county.

The longest-serving member of the Kent squad, he captained the club in 2013 and also has played twice for England in Tests as well as making 17 international T20 appearances and 45 in one-day internationals.

Ever-modest Tredwell – Kent’s leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket – says he is delighted to have been given the honour and to be following in the footsteps of some illustrious predecessors including team-mate Darren Stevens, who celebrates his benefit this year.

Tredwell, who claimed his 400th First-Class scalp this summer, said: "You never think that those days are coming up, you’re just playing your cricket. I’ve been at the club for a number of years now and to be honoured in this way is a hugely proud moment.

"There have been ups and down along the way but it’s been a hugely enjoyable time from under-11 really.

"The amount of players who have had benefits at the club, they’ve been hugely successful players so to follow some of those, or all of those, Stevo included, is again a proud honour."

Ashford-born Tredwell did have a brief loan spell at Sussex in 2014 but he says that helped him regain his place back at Kent and he is lucky to have achieved most of his ambitions.

He added: "The county stuff is great and I’ve been lucky enough to go on and play for England which you always dream about as a kid.

"I even tossed the coin for England (Tredwell captained England against New Zealand in a T20 international at The Oval which was washed out after just two balls in 2013) so I guess I’ve sort of ticked all the boxes really in terms of the dreams as a kid."

Tredwell says he has a whole host of people to thank for his career, not least his father John, who passed away in April.

He said: "The thanks are pretty endless, obviously my parents were pretty instrumental (in his career) and my father, who has not long passed away so it is a quite fitting thing to have happened. He passed away in April but he would loved to have seen this so it’s a shame he’s not around.

"Then there are all the coaches over the years, the whole family and everyone I’ve played with through Folkestone and Brookland cricket clubs, all my age group teams, I could go on and on.

"It’s difficult to single any out too many people at the moment."