Kent’s disastrous start to the 2021 season sank to a new low on Friday as they were defeated inside two days by Glamorgan.

After posting a below-par 138 with the bat on day one, Matt Milnes and birthday-boy Darren Stevens carried Kent through the Glamorgan innings, picking up 3/46 and 5/53 respectively to ensure the Spitfires ‘only’ trailed by 59 runs at the halfway stage.

The batsmen appeared to have different ideas once again, however. 

13, 6, 1, 10, 8, 8. No, these aren’t the checkouts in the latest round of darts at your local pub, they are the scores of Kent’s top six in the second innings. All out for 74 and setting their hosts 16 to win, David Lloyd hammered a six off the bowling of Miguel Cummins to confirm Kent’s latest defeat and sum up the West Indian’s Spitfires career so far.

Kent haven’t been helped by injuries. New ball bowler Harry Podmore and all-rounder Grant Stewart pulling up in the second game didn’t help things, but Kent have serious issues with the ball. Darren Stevens and Matt Milnes continue to be their impressive selves – Milnes also almost saved the game against Yorkshire with the bat a couple of weeks back as nightwatchman – but they are carrying the bowling effort on their shoulders right now. Milnes has 10 wickets on the board so far at 36.60 with Stevens having 13 at an average of 19.76, but there has been almost literally nothing else.

Kent have fielded just four frontline bowlers in their last two games – an innings defeat against Lancashire and a two-day defeat at Glamorgan. Away from Milnes and Stevens, the other two have been Fred Klaassen (three wickets at 57.33 this season) and Miguel Cummins (five wickets at 73.40). To put it simply, it is not good enough.

Kent have opted to go with the extra batsman this year, and Matt Walker confirmed that Grant Stewart was playing as a batsman that bowls against Yorkshire. He was replaced by Heino Kuhn after injury.

The decision to go in perhaps a bowler light has hurt Kent, but they are struggling for options. The only other fit seamer is 20-year-old Nathan Gilchrist, who has played just one first-class game.

Perhaps they could have played a spinner. Part-timer Jack Leaning bowled over 31 overs against Lancashire in the first innings before leg spinner Matt Parkinson took nine wickets in the match for the red rose.

Again, Kent are light in experience. Marcus O’Riordan seems to be ahead of Hamidullah Qadri in the pecking order but he himself has only six first-class games to his name.

The main problem at Kent right now though is the batting. Hardly anyone in the top seven is performing right now and the order seems wrong.

A lot of hate is aimed at club captain Sam Billings, who regularly misses matches because of franchise or England duty. This is bizarre because cricket is different to other sports. In cricket the aim in England is to develop international and franchise players – the more, the better. So, when Kent’s star man is doing just that, fans should be proud, rather than throw abuse.

Although he may be back in Kent colours soon due to the postponement of the IPL, Billings isn’t here right now. He cannot be blamed. Zak Crawley averaging 24.00 with one score over 50 from eight innings, Joe Denly with 13.28 and no 50 from seven innings, Heino Kuhn at 18.74 from four innings – admittedly one of those was with an injury – and Jack Leaning at 14.42 from seven innings. That is where the problem lies.

Stand-in captain Daniel Bell-Drummond has 212 runs from eight innings so far this year, which includes a 114 against Lancashire. Take that innings, a clear anomaly at this point, away, and his stats are incredibly poor.

After featuring regularly for Kent as an opener a few years ago, Bell-Drummond had looked neat and settled in the middle order in recent times, but the decision was made to move him to back the top of the order late in 2019 following the decline of Sean Dickson. He averaged a disappointing 23.12 throughout the Bob Willis Trophy without scoring a 50 and hasn’t fared much better this year. Whoever made the decision to move him back up, it simply hasn’t worked. 

He topped the run scoring charts in the T20 Blast in 2020 and earned himself a hundred contract with Birmingham Phoenix. He is one of the best white ball openers in the country, but unfortunately that doesn’t and hasn’t translated into to red ball form. His stance is too open – he leaves himself vulnerable to the swinging ball and often finds himself squared up, playing and missing or edging through to the ‘keeper. The change hasn’t worked, and it is time to move him back down the order.

Kent aren’t spoiled with opening batters. Youngster Jordan Cox is doing a decent job but it feels Bell-Drummond is filling in more than anything. Centrally-contracted Zak Crawley found fame opening the batting for Kent, but succeeded at number three for England so seems to have found a home there for Kent, albeit an uncomfortable one at the minute. It is possible that the ECB have requested he bats at three for his county, but ideally he should be opening with Cox, with Joe Denly at three – where he has had success throughout his career. Bell-Drummond should be at four. Harry Finch, formally of Sussex, scored a century for the seconds this week, and could be an option.

For me, Jack Leaning needs some time out the team, but it is unlikely he will find that with Heino Kuhn injured again. The former Yorkshireman has registered scores of 0, 0, 12, 0, 2 and 8 since an opening day 79 against Northants and looks shot of confidence, but he will have to continue to bat for now and hope his form improves.

Ollie Robinson has looked steady at six/seven – even though he could probably bat higher now – as he continues to progress, whilst Darren Stevens – well, he’s Darren Stevens.

For me, this would be my top seven, if possible: Crawley, Cox, Denly, Bell-Drummond, Leaning, Robinson, Stevens.

It is an issue that every single batsman is the squad is right-handed, but that is not really a problem that can be addressed right now.

I would have Marcus O’Riordan in the team at eight as the spinner, replacing Kuhn who is now injured. He is next in line as a batsman and will give the team several new options. He bowls (a first-class average of 36.00), but he bats too, and even opened the batting on occasion last year. With a first-class average of 33.85, he is no mug with the bat. He bats confidently, slowly, and watchfully. 

As aforementioned, the Spitfires don’t have too many options when it comes to seam now, but for me, Nathan Gilchrist has to come in to replace Fred Klaassen. The Dutch international has struggled and despite his left-arm option, he has not done enough to keep his place in my opinion.

Miguel Cummins has disappointed so far, but we have seen glimpses of his skill and his pace and bounce provides something different. It would take a lot of guts to drop an overseas player, and I can’t see it happening. That could, however, purely be because of the lack of options.

Therefore, against Yorkshire later this week, I would like to see a bowling line-up of Stevens, O’Riordan, Milnes, Gilchrist and Cummins, making my XI as follows:

Crawley, Cox, Denly, Bell-Drummond, Leaning, Robinson, Stevens, O’Riordan, Milnes, Gilchrist, Cummins.

Head coach Matt Walker has been reluctant to change his team so far, stating after the Lancashire game that improvements were needed rather than changes. He may change his mind now, admitting after day one against Glamorgan that he was disappointed with Klaassen and Cummins with the ball, and he can’t have been chuffed with the batting on day two either.

Kent need to sort themselves out if they are to be competitive in red ball cricket this year. They have six games to save their season because right now they are rock bottom of Group Three and are on a landslide to Division Three.