Kent skipper Rob Key has called for the supporters to keep faith with his side and the club’s cricket management team after this month’s departures of Matt Walker and Neil Dexter.

The timing of the two announcements – Walker’s on the eve of the NatWest Pro40 League title decider – then Dexter’s just 48 hours before their crucial and penultimate championship match of the season could not have been or looked worse – indeed, many supporters are angered that both players have been allowed to leave.

But Key insists the club could not have done more to keep Dexter and confirmed that they made the youngster the rare offer of a three-year deal.

Key said: “The problem with having a small staff and a good side who have effectively reached three finals this year and are competing in every competition, means that you will have some people unhappy about not playing.

“The reality is you can’t keep all these people happy, especially when you and they know they are good players and of the quality to hold down a first team place at another county.

“In the past, when we had squads of 25 and more at Kent, certain people were just happy to be professional cricketers because many of them weren’t that sure they would be good enough to play in the first team over a long period.

“Now, we’ve tried to create a squad of players who are good enough or potentially good enough to play first-class cricket but the problem with that is that only 11 can play and the ones on the sidelines playing 2nd team cricket won’t be happy.”

Key added: “The big problem for me about this was the timing of these decisions which worked out badly for us.

“Neil led us to believe that he wanted to stay at Kent and we’d said to Walks that, if Neil were to stay there wouldn’t be anything for him.

“But I also said to Walks that if Neil did decide to go, then there would be something on offer to keep him at Kent.

“The club eventually agreed to announce his departure on the Saturday only to be told two days later by Neil’s agent that Neil wanted to go.”

As for the agent himself, former Kent skipper David Fulton said: “All parties acted honourably and with integrity. The facts are that Neil did not 'change his mind' because his mind was never fully made up, while Matthew was fully entitled to know where he stood as he has a mortgage to pay and a family to support.

“Matthew was released. Neil has chosen to pursue his career elsewhere. Both are fully committed to Kent to the end of the season and both were available for selection at Liverpool.”

Key and chief executive Paul Millman have confirmed that Kent made initial approaches to Middlesex batsman Ed Joyce, only to be knocked back by wage demands, and also for Worcestershire’s Ben Smith, who has since signed a contract extension at New Road.

Key added: “The big thing for me is that we move forward from this and put it behind us quickly. There’s no point dwelling on it now, the decisions have been made whether we like them or not.

“I’d like to think we can turn this into a positive, yes we’ve lost two players but who’s to say that in eight months’ time we won’t be stronger for it.

“There’s a big world out there full of good cricketers and we’ve got all winter to scour the market and bring in two or three players to strengthen our hand for next year.

“We have good contacts in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, you name it, and we’ll all be working hard to see who’s available, whose good enough at the right price and those players with the attitude that they really do want to come and play for Kent.”