Daniel Bell-Drummond has been appointed as the 36th Men’s Captain of Kent Cricket.

A product of the Kent Cricket Academy, the 30-year-old has amassed 369 appearances for the county to-date across a 12-year county career so far, scoring over 15,000 runs and having the accolade of being one of six male cricketers to have scored a century in all three formats of the game for Kent.

The right-hander has also captained the side across all formats on 42 occasions in the past four seasons, with a 47%-win percentage overall so far (including draws & no results). He is officially the 36th Club Captain and will skipper Kent in first-class competition.

2023 was a standout season for the opening batter that is also known for his part-time medium-pace bowling. He backed up his second career T20 hundred, 111 against Middlesex at Canterbury, by becoming Kent’s third triple centurion less than a week later. His score of 300* was the first time an opposition player had reached 300 at Northampton in Kent’s victory over Northamptonshire.

At the 2023 Spitfire Kent Cricket Awards, Bell-Drummond won five of nine Men’s accolades, including Men’s Players’ Player of the Year as selected by his teammates, and Men’s Player of the Year – as voted by the Club’s Members & supporters. He is the first cricketer of Caribbean descent to be appointed Kent Men’s Club Captain.

On being appointed as Club Captain, Bell-Drummond said: “It’s an absolute honour and privilege to be the Club Captain of Kent Cricket.

“I’ve been a Kent cricketer since I was seven years old; I love the Club.

“It’s now my job, alongside the rest of the playing squad, to take Kent Cricket forward into a new season as Captain and it’s a challenge that I’m looking forward to.

“I’m looking forward to working with Simon Cook and Matt Walker, shaping this team into being competitive on all fronts, but also making sure that this ethos spreads down to our age group squads, with help from our fantastic Pathway coaches.

“I’d like to thank Sam Billings for his six years of excellent Club captaincy, and, of course, I’ll be working closely with Sam as he remains one of the leaders in the dressing room. This is a team sport, and everyone will have a role to play.

“To the Kent Members and supporters – we’ll both be experiencing good times and I’m sure some tough times, but we will be going through it all together.

“We’ll be looking to hit the ground running for 2024 and that will begin with pre-season training in the New Year. Before we all know it, it’ll be April and time once again to wear the Kent shirt with pride.”

Meanwhile, Kent Cricket have also confirmed that Sam Billings has been appointed as T20 captain of the Kent Spitfires.

Kent’s victorious 2021 Vitality Blast-winning skipper, Billings stepped down as Club Captain following the conclusion of the 2023 season.

The 32-year-old has travelled the world plying his trade in T20 cricket and has won some of the biggest prizes in that format, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Chennai Super Kings and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with Lahore Qalandars.

He also captained Oval Invincibles Men to their first Hundred title in 2023.

In all, the Kent Cricket Academy graduate has captained Kent Men on 49 occasions in T20 cricket since 2018, averaging 28.36 with the bat and enacting 40 dismissals.

On being named as Kent Men’s T20 captain, Billings said: “I’m delighted to remain as the T20 captain of the Kent Spitfires – it’s a role that I have loved doing and as I have previously said, it’s always an honour to captain any Kent side.

“’DBD’ will be an outstanding Club Captain and it’ll be great to work in partnership for the Vitality Blast – he has always been one of the influential characters in the playing squad. His deep passion for the Club and calm demeanour will no doubt elevate this squad further.

“I believe we have a fantastic foundation to challenge for the Vitality Blast trophy again. Thank you again for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you all back at The Spitfire Ground next season.”

A captain for the 2024 Metro Bank One Day Cup will be confirmed closer to the start of the tournament.

Kent’s Director of Cricket, Simon Cook, said: “We’re delighted to appoint Daniel as our Club Captain.

“He is one of the real leaders in the dressing room and has shown time and time again to be one of our marquee players – with excellent performances with the bat and also being a part of the senior leadership group of the team.

“He has led by example when called upon whether as captain or as a senior player when it has been needed, and I have complete confidence in Daniel to be a big contributor in how we want to move forward. playing a brand of cricket that filters down to our Talent Pathway and hopefully brings renewed success.

“We’re also delighted that Sam Billings will continue his leadership of our T20 side.

“Sam has invaluable experience of playing in, and winning, the biggest tournaments in T20 cricket, including captaining us to our T20 title in 2021.

“Short form captains have the opportunity to influence and win games and in Sam we have one of the best in the world. This, aligned with his passion for the game, makes him the ideal person to captain the Kent Spitfires in the Vitality Blast in 2024.”

Picture supplied by Ian Scammell.