KENT County Cricket Club have taken significant strides toward naming their new supremo of cricket.

Though the role of Kent’s new director of cricket was never formally advertised, the county received a flood of high profile applications for the post to oversee the county’s existing three-man coaching team of Simon Willis, Paul Farbrace and Chris Stone.

Though the club are understandably reticent to set a date for the appointment, the county’s chief executive Paul Millman is buoyed by the standard of applicant.

He said: "All I can say is that we are in the final stages of interview and pending the final decision of the three who were selected for second interview.

"From the original applicants we drew up a long list of 12, of whom seven had international coaching experience. We originally cut that number to six and are now down to three, so it stands to reason we are talking about people firmly on the international coaching map.

"They all have excellent credentials and a good amount of success on their CVs, so I would think it could be a narrow decision.

"It’s been a very exciting and stimulating process listening to what these people feel they can bring to Kent and how they see the club moving forward."

The club seem likely to ratify the appointment at this month’s general committee meeting on January 13, but the final decision may be announced much later once notice periods and contract dates have been determined.