Matt Walker says Kent deserve to be acknowledged as one of the best one-day sides in the country and hopes they can show why this weekend.

Lancashire visit the Spitfires in the Royal London One-Day Cup on Saturday (10.30am) to round-off the 164th Canterbury Week in style with a huge game for both sides seeking a place in the knockout stages from Group B.

With two wins and a washout from their five games, Kent are in the mix for the last eight and assistant coach Walker admitted: “The table has become tight and it’s a strong group with everyone seeming to beat everyone.

“It’s possibly partly down to the scheduling with a lot of back-to-back games and teams maybe winning the first day and losing the next due to travelling and fatigue.

“Two wins from our last three games (with trips to Notts and Birmingham to follow) should be enough to get us a quarter-final.

“It is in our hands, which is where you want to be at the back end of any competition.”

He added: “Lancashire are a good team but every team in this competition are strong and we have been playing our best cricket with a white ball.

“We have to be in the conversation for the best one-day team in the country.

“Last year we were a win away from the quarter-finals in T20 and made the semi-finals in the 50-over format.

“This year we topped our strong T20 group and we’re in the shake-up again here.

“We have proved a lot of people wrong. We have been told by several teams in T20 that we are the best side they have played, which is always nice to hear.

“We have beaten some good teams in both formats this season.”

Despite the Lightning returning to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, a week later for the NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final, Walker claims Saturday’s result will have no bearing on the shorter-format fixture.

He said: “I don’t think Saturday will impact on the quarter-final in any way. They are different formats and different days. “I’m never sure whether it’s a good thing to be playing the week before a quarter-final or having time to recharge your batteries and practice specific things.

“I know it has been a mad month and it’s a good time for us to rest and get bodies refreshed ahead of a big game. It’s been a hard slog but hopefully we can recover and be in a position to execute our skills to the best of our ability the following Saturday.”