Kent batman Heino Kuhn has admitted his side need to get their first win of the 2021 County Championship sooner rather than later if they are going to be competitive in this year’s competition.

The Spitfires have had an underwhelming start to their season with back-to-back home defeats against Yorkshire and Lancashire following an opening round draw at Northamptonshire and sit bottom of group three in the qualification stage of the Championship.

“We are very disappointed, each and every one of us” said Kuhn, speaking after the innings defeat against Lancashire.

“We cannot fall too far behind. They are all good sides in the group, so we need a win and then you get your season on the go and hopefully we can start now.

“It is still early in the season and we know we can come back from it. We are looking forward to the next game and there were a lot of positives against Lancashire. We will definitely take the positives and work on the negatives. 

“We are all still upbeat and ready to go for the next one.”

Kuhn confirmed his side’s frustrations after the defeat at Lancashire, where the Spitfires took play to the final session of the game before falling to defeat.

The former South Africa batsman accepted Kent were second best.

“Lancashire are one of those sides that you really want to beat, but they played well, and they were better than us so all the credit must go to them. They outplayed us 90% of the game.

“We should be better. We did not score enough runs first innings and we did not quite bowl well enough on day two.

“The guys at the end showed they were willing to stay out there and we just needed to ride that pressure a bit longer, but unfortunately it did not quite happen for us.”

Kuhn was playing his first game of the season following a calf issue earlier on in the campaign and enjoyed a near-two-hour partnership with Joe Denly on day four. 

Ultimately, he couldn’t help his side over the line for a draw, but confirmed he is now fit and ready to go for the immediate future.

He said: “I am eager to go; I was happy to be fit for this game. First innings I felt good and then I had a good partnership with Joe that I enjoyed. I felt good and hopefully there are some good runs to come starting next week. 

“The injury is all good. I am ready to go at 100%.”

And despite Kent’s slow start, the 37-year-old is aiming big this season.

“We can still win this competition” he said. “It is a long way away, but we are going to have to start this week coming. 

“We cannot wait any longer and make the same mistakes again. Walks (head coach Matt Walker) and the coaching staff are very positive – obviously you have to mention when there is a pattern happening and then there are negatives – but we are looking forward and I am sure come Thursday when we play again, we will have worked on it and be better at it.”

Kent travel to Glamorgan in the fourth round of fixtures, with the match starting on Thursday.

Picture supplied by Max Flego Photography.