James Tredwell is pleased to see a familiar face at Kent with the return to the club of former batsman Matt Walker.

Walker spent the majority of his playing career at Kent – a career that spanned almost two decades and saw him score more than 12,000 first class runs – and has returned to the club in the role of assistant coach, having moved to Essex, first as a player and then as a member of the backroom staff.

“It’s good to have a Kent player come home”, said Tredwell when KSN caught up with him.

“I played a lot of cricket with Matt over the start of my career until he moved away [in 2008] and he’s done a great job at Essex. I’m sure he’ll be sorely missed in their dressing room.”

Walker will be a well known face for many in the dressing room at Canterbury, with his close relationship to captain Rob Key understood to be a large part of the reason behind his return. Key took back over the captaincy reigns from Tredwell at the end of last season, with Tredwell stepping down to focus on his international career.

“It’ll be a great addition for us”, said Tredwell of Walker, “not only with his coaching and his knowledge of the game, but him as a person – he’ll be the life and soul of the dressing room, I’m sure, and he’ll add a lot of energy to our group, and that’ll be really beneficial for us.

“Obviously to have a real Kent man in the dressing room and show that passion that I’m sure he has for Kent Cricket is another plus.”