Daniel Bell-Drummond made Kent history with a triple century in their County Championship game away to Northamptonshire on Tuesday.

Batsman Bell-Drummond, who’s 30 in August, continued his red-hot T20 Blast form into the longest format of the game with 300 not out to put his side firmly in the box seat of their Division 1 match.

He said: “It’s an amazing feeling – I’ve never felt like this in my career and I’m still on cloud nine! I’ll definitely have a drink tonight and enjoy the moment.

“Everyone wants to do it but I never thought it was coming.

“I’m glad I was able to stick to my plans and not give my wicket away. That’s how I grew up playing – I really valued my wicket and I’m glad I was able to do that in this game.

“Yesterday I was more in the zone, head down and really focused on every ball but, speaking to a lot of friends and family and what it meant to them, I was more nervous this morning, trying to get the 29 more runs I needed.

“It couldn’t have been a better day for me. Hopefully, I’ll move forward with my career now and keep scoring runs in all forms.

“I’ve had a few tough periods this season and in my career, so I was definitely going to make the most of it.

“Northants bowled well this morning, we lost quite a few wickets in that first hour and it got quite nerve-racking because I had to try and come out of that shell and Arshdeep [Singh] kept me on my toes as well!

“I felt that maybe, if the landmark didn’t come that was my fault, because I wasn’t really going for it. I can’t put that on a No.11, for sure, but it was quite entertaining when he started smashing it!

“It was funny with hindsight but I was very nervous at the time.

“We’re in a really good position.”

Starting day three unbeaten on 271, he overtook the 275 not out scored by Matt Walker - his coach - in 1996 and Les Ames’ 295 from 1933.

Bill Ashdown’s 332 against Essex in 1934 remains the all-time Kent record for the highest score by an individual in an innings, with only Sean Dickson’s 318 at Beckenham against Northamptonshire in 2017 and another triple ton hit by Ashdown (305 not out) surpassing Bell-Drummond’s total which came in 439 balls. It included a maximum and 26 boundaries.

Dickson, now at Somerset after he left Kent in 2020, said: “It’s fantastic to see 'Deebs' get to 300.

"I still stay in contact with Daniel on a regular basis. It’s so well deserved. With the amount of time and hard work he puts in, I’m over the moon for him.

"I know he’s a very popular guy in the Kent dressing room, so this will be celebrated sufficiently!"

When Bell-Drummond reached 290, Kent were six wickets down. By the time they had made it to 293, though, they were nine down.

But Indian overseas Arshdeep Singh stuck around just long enough thanks to an eight-ball 10 to see Bell-Drummond to yet another milestone before Singh was caught by Saif Zaib off Alex Russell (6-175) to leave them 621 all out - 384 runs ahead.

Bell-Drummond had gone into the County Championship clash, having blasted 429 runs across six Blast matches, including a century in a win over Middlesex at Canterbury, at an average of 107.25. Now, he has scored 854 runs in June alone.

Jack Leaning once again skippered Kent against Northamptonshire, with club captain Sam Billings having stepped down as red-ball skipper before the game.

It comes less than a week after Kent Women batter Tammy Beaumont scored a double century for England in the Women's Test defeat against Australia at Trent Bridge.

On Twitter, Dover-born Beaumont wrote: “Yes Deebs… We’ve come a long way from Kent under-11s.”

Kent head coach Walker wrote on Instagram: “History-maker! A very special achievement” while former Kent bowler Matt Milnes, now at Yorkshire but presently sidelined through injury, said: “Good things, good people.”