Rob Key has described this summer as "the worst year of my career" and admits it is a big reason why Kent are facing up to an immediate return to Division 2 championship cricket.

The Kent captain hit 261 against Durham at Canterbury in June – the highest individual score in Division 1 – but averaged less than 27 and scored only 674 runs.

A broken finger against Hampshire in July compounded his misfortune and Key admitted: "I got runs against Durham, then we went straight into Twenty20. I came back after the injury but didn’t really find rhythm or form after that.

"Everyone has to be pretty honest with themselves and if I’d have had a decent year, we wouldn’t have gone down."

Team director Paul Farbrace, however, says the squad have to shoulder collective responsibility.

Of Key, Farbrace said: "It sums him up as the honest, straightforward person he is.

"He is passionate about Kent cricket and it was an honest appraisal about his performances.

"The truth is we haven’t scored consistently enough as a team, our bowling resources were thin and we dropped catches at crucial times. It’s not been a lack of effort, passion or determination – we weren’t good enough."