Kent Cricket have received interest from domestic and international candidates for their newly created director of cricket role.

Applications for the job closed on Wednesday and it is expected that interviews will be taking place in January.

The successful applicant will be responsible for the club’s long term success on the field. The director of cricket will not be responsible for the day-to-day coaching of the first team, this responsibility will still lie with Matt Walker.

Kent confirmed that it had received a number of applications from both domestic and international candidates.

Outgoing chief executive, Jamie Clifford, said: “In a nutshell, running the cricket department is the role. That means it is a very broad job but what we are not saying is they will come in and run the first team.

“It is all aspect of cricket operations to age group programmes, to academy, to first team but also looking outward to recruitment and identifying best practice.”

The director of cricket is unlikely to be in place before the club’s pre-season tour of the West Indies, according to Clifford.

The club is not looking for a quick fix and want to make sure the successful candidate is the right person for the job.

He added: “We are looking at the long term. It’s not about the coaching of the here and now. If it were to happen like that we would be delighted but the number one priority would be to get the best candidate.”

Clifford, who is due to join the MCC as assistant secretary (memberships and operations) in February, said he would have liked to have had a director of cricket during his eight year reign as CEO but it has not been possible.

“It’s something I would have loved to have had in my time at Kent,” he said.

“You have to make your decisions where you put your resources and at the time it wasn’t feasible.”

According to the club’s website, first interviews are likely to take place on January 11 and 12, 2018, and second interviews likely on the week commencing on January 22, 2018.