By Andrew Gidley

Kent officials will be keeping one eye firmly on the weather as Canterbury Festival Week gets under way on Tuesday with the visit of LV= County Championship Division 1 title-chasers Somerset.

Rain is forecast for both Wednesday – Ladies' Day – and Friday.

Kent go into the match boosted by their 99-run win over Essex on Sunday, which lifted them two places up the table, while Somerset’s innings victory against Nottinghamshire, their fifth in six games, moved them into third place - 13 points behind leaders Yorkshire.

Skipper Rob Key (pictured), who returned quicker than expected from a broken finger to lead the side against Essex, will start the match against Somerset just 95 away from reaching the 15,000-run milestone in first class cricket.

Match-winner on Sunday Azhar Mahmood could be pressed into service again following his five-wicket haul in the second innings against Essex.

Plans to display a replica Spitfire on Tuesday, on loan from the Imperial War Museum, have been temporarily grounded due to technical reasons. The county hope it will arrive later this week.