The last few seasons have not been easy for Kent County Cricket Club, but there seems to be more optimism at the club this winter.

Since 2008, the club have suffered relegation from Division One of the LV= County Championship, followed by a hugely disappointing season last year, which saw them finish second-bottom in Division Two, under-lying money issues, and then, come the end of last season, the loss of Head Coach Paul Farbrace and star players – Joe Denly to Middlesex, and Martin van Jaarsveld, first to Leicestershire, and then retirement.

As the proverb goes, though, the night is always darkest before the dawn, and, whisper it quietly, but there may at last be cause for optimism at the St Lawrence Ground.

With the start of the 2012 season now just four weeks away, Kent will tomorrow travel to Antigua for a 10 day training camp under the tutelage of new Head Coach, former West Indian captain Jimmy Adams.

With a young squad soon to be entering their potentially peak years, mixed with old heads who know the county circuit as well as anyone, and a number of new faces in the squad, Kent must look to build on the disappointment of the last couple of seasons and use it to propel them forward in the coming campaign.

The signs coming out of the club at present, though, are positive. Youngsters such as Matt Coles, England under-19 captain Adam Ball, opening batsman Daniel Bell-Drummond and left-arm seamer Ashley Shaw began to make an impact on the first team squad last season, with all-rounder Ball in particular impressing.

With a number of more experienced heads, including James Tredwell, Darren Stevens and Geraint Jones out of contract after this season; the club must strive to ensure they remain at Kent if they wish their success to be long-lasting as they look to build for the future.

One area that the club performed better in last season was in the Twenty20 competition, and the club should look to build on their success in the competition over the last few years – they were unexpected winners in 2007, and reached the quarter finals last term, aided by the excellent performances of overseas signing Wahab Riaz, the fast left-armer from Pakistan.

In terms of their overseas signing for this season, however, Adams has remained cagey, although speaking to KSN earlier this week; he was able to announce that the club hope to have someone in place within the next week, although no potential names or positions were mentioned. When pushed on the possibility of Australian former captain and legend Ricky Ponting rocking up at the St Lawrence Ground any time soon, with the player having been linked with a move to county cricket, Adams admitted that, though he would love to have a player of Ponting’s class, it was highly unlikely.

An overseas player would obviously help to bolster a squad already improved by a number of intelligent signings over the winter break, with seasoned County Championship veterans Charlie Shreck, Ben Harmison and Michael Powell all joining the club. They also hope to have a new, experienced opening batsman joining the club in the next few days.

It is obvious that nothing will really be known about the quality and ability of the new team until we have seen them play, as they kick off their season in just under a month’s time, but the noises being made at Kent are positive ones. The players appear to love having a coach with Adams’ enthusiasm, passion and knowledge for the game, and he seems to have taken to management well, in pre-season at least.

There have been big changes in Canterbury over this winter break, and a fresh and rejuvenated squad could be just what is needed to turn round the fortunes of a club who have, in a number of areas, underperformed in recent years.

Fingers crossed, anyway!