Paul Farbrace praised the impact made by new vice-captain Geraint Jones during Tuesday’s 14-run Clydesdale Bank 40 victory over Sussex Sharks at Hove.

Wicketkeper Jones, 35, took over the reins as acting captain after Martin van Jaarsveld decided to stand down to concentrate on his batting.

One of his first big decisions was to push for Adam Riley’s selection, and the young spinner rewarded his confidence in him by returning excellent figures of 2-32 from eight overs.

Director of cricket Farbrace explained: “In many ways Adam (Riley) was a dilemma for us at the start.

"Should we go the extra bowler? Should we go the extra batter? And Jonesie was adamant we should have the extra bowler. He wanted the extra options and he proved to be absolutely right. It was a good piece of selection from his point of veiw.”

Farbrace said Jones, who made his Kent debut in 2001, had little hesitation in becoming vice-captain once asked.

He explained: “Jonah was keen to do it and said it was a honour, and I think he really enjoyed it. He got the team selection right and made some good decisions all night in what turned out to be a fantastic win. He marshalled the boys well. It was encouraging to see how well he did.”

Farbrace paid tribute to Jones’s predecessor, saying van Jaarsveld’s decision to stand down as vice-captain had been a ‘brave’ one.

He added:“Jarre is a very disciplined person, a very proud person and he feels he should be scoring more runs. Nobody can fault Martin’s commitment to Kent cricket. His record over the last six years puts him right up there as one of Kent’s modern greats.

“His professionalism is outstanding. I’ve never met a bloke other than (Kumar) Sangakkara, who practices with more detail. He’s a driven person and standing down as vice-captain was no easy thing - in the end he took a very brave decision.

“He put the team performance in front of his own and the pride of being vice- captain. It would have been easy (for him) to carry on but actually he wanted to do what’s right for for the team and he thinks the best way for him to contribute is to score big runs. I can’t speak highly enough of the bloke.”

Caption: Geraint Jones made a winning start as acting captain against Sussex