In a wide-ranging interview, Sam Billings says he “absolutely” will be at Kent next year, revealed the identity of Kent’s “secret” new signing, discussed mental health in cricket, addressed rumours of an unsettled dressing room and talked about the brutal nature of the four-day game following Kent’s final-day defeat to Northants.

“Sorry, I rambled on a bit there,” said Sam Billings, approximately 10-minutes after he’d started his post-match interview with a less-than-promising: “Let’s get this over with then.”

The Kent captain looked emotionally and physically drained by Kent’s 203-run defeat to Northamptonshire, a margin of defeat that masked the fact the hosts had been heavy favourites after two days. Even after their second innings collapse they came within ten minutes of salvaging a draw, when Billings and his last-wicket partner Matt Quinn batted for 12 overs in the final hour.

“This is Division One cricket,” he reflected. “You go back to losing five for 30 in that first innings and we just didn’t put our foot on the throat and press. It’s incredibly disappointing and as you can probably tell and we’re in a bit of a dog fight now.”

Although no one at Kent was in the mood to hear it after such a shattering ending, it was a brilliant game of cricket and an ideal riposte to the LV= Insurance County Championship’s many critics. “This is proper four-day cricket and it hasn’t been like this probably my whole career if I’m honest,” Billings said.

“This is where you see skill and character come to the fore and because of these good cricket wickets, it’s a battle of attrition. Nothing much can happen for the first two days and then all of a sudden things can happen quickly. It’s about the team that can battle collectively that will come out on top and we came out second best today.”

In a division where any hint of weakness is punished, public and private rumours about possible departures at the end of the season hadn’t helped morale. “Of course it’s unsettling and anyone who says it isn’t is talking absolute rubbish,” Billings admitted.

“I think individually, from past experience, I’ve played a lot of cricket now and when I have ever been in a kind of unsettling or uncertain position it’s really weighed on my mental health and actually how I approach each game. And let’s be honest, cricket is a complete mental game, based on skill.”

The captain wants the issues resolved quickly: “I think a lot of stuff needs to come to a head, both for individuals and collectively as a team and I think that would be beneficial for everyone involved.”

He also wants individuals to take responsibility: “For me, I’d love the answer and a quick fix, but again it’s about the senior players, every single player actually, sticking their hand up and saying, do you know what? I’m going to be the guy this week and if people leave everything out there and the character on show is they’re absolutely trying their guts out for the badge I suppose then I can’t fault that at all.”

“I just think at times we’ve lacked that this year, in both formats really and you see the character of people, but also the team when things aren’t going to plan. It’s very easy when it’s going really well and you can ride the wave on the back of other people.”

The bowling unit has come in for heavy criticism this year, but reinforcements are on their way, with Billings revealing India’s Navdeep Saini would be joining for the next three red-ball matches and the Royal London Cup, alongside the returning New Zealander Matt Henry.

Members and reporters alike had been peering through binoculars in an attempt to identify the rangy-looking pace bowler who’d been training throughout the Northants game, a mystery that was solved when Billings said: “Navdeep and Matt arriving is obviously a huge boost for us.”

“They’re two quality individuals and good quality bowlers that character-wise will offer plenty as well. They’re really good additions at a really important time I think so I’m looking forward to getting them in the group.”

When it was pointed out that Saini wasn’t due to be unveiled until Saturday, Billings finally allowed himself something resembling a smile: “Well he has been around all week, so it’s not exactly a secret!”