Interim Kent head coach Simon Cook described their woeful run chase against Leicestershire as “timid” on Sunday.

One Day Cup holders Spitfires were skittled out for 116 in reply to the Foxes’ 380-5 on a good batting track at Beckenham.

They never got off to a quick start, only captain Jack Leaning showed any attacking intent but his dismissal sparked a collapse that Kent never recovered from.

“I was a little bit disappointed that we were a bit timid in how we went out and approached that score,” said Cook.

“I’d rather have got bowled out for 116 really trying to take it on, where actually we were a bit soft in a few dismissals there.

“We want to be playing smart, positive and fearless cricket and in the face of a large total like that, that’s the only way you can go about it. That’s what we’re going to take into the next game.”

Cook was impressed with his team’s control during the middle overs of Leicestershire’s innings but admitted their shortcomings either side of that spell.

“We didn’t execute very well, top and tail of our bowling innings,” said Cook. “I felt we didn’t hold length anywhere near for long enough.

“They showed that if you got the ball in decent areas there’s enough bounce and carry in the pitch to cause a few problems.

“At the end we were a bit predictable with the yorkers, we didn’t have our ratio of yorkers to variation balls just to keep people thinking. I think we got lined up a little bit which allowed the scoreboard to escalate.

“I thought our middle innings period was outstanding, we had a period of 20 overs outside the first 10 overs when we had them 94-3 in that period and we created two extra chances as well.

“There was an opportunity there to restrict them to 320-330 which would have been a manageable task.”

Kent face a run of three One Day Cup games in five days this week, starting with a trip to Blackpool on Wednesday to face Lancashire before visiting Surrey on Friday and hosting Middlesex at Beckenham on Sunday.

There’s no point dwelling on the Leicestershire defeat but Cook believes the scale of the loss can actually make it easier to overlook.

“To a certain extent you can push those type of results aside because it was so bad,” he claimed.

“You understand that you’re a professional team and you don’t put two or three performances together like that in a row.

“You are putting it to one side and using it as a blip and getting on with the next game which comes thick and fast.

“We’re going to be faced with another good wicket at Lancashire, it’s a typically high-scoring ground, the game is generally competed around the 300-mark or over.

“It’s about going back to the drawing board and executing a bit better in those areas where we weren’t quite so good.”