Jack Leaning scored his maiden first-class hundred for Kent on Sunday, and is loving life at his new club.

The 26-year-old, who signed for The Spitfires ahead of this season, ended day two unbeaten on 110 after an unbroken partnership of 231 with Jordan Cox, who scored 167 not out as Kent reached stumps on 338 for the loss of one wicket.

“I have been feeling a little bit nervous to be honest” admitted Leaning at the close of play. “When you come to a new club you want to impress early. I missed out at Essex last week, so I was keen to get some runs today and settle down a bit.

“I am really pleased with how I played today, it was really good batting with Coxy [Jordan Cox] – he has really easy to bat with and is quite chilled out and he played seriously well as well.”

Leaning made his first-class debut for his old side Yorkshire back in 2013, but had just four centuries from 110 innings before the game. He can now boast a fifth, and wants to add to that number.

“It is something that does go on in your mind” he admitted. “I would be lying if I said it hadn’t.

“If there is one thing in my career, I have scored runs but I have lacked a few hundreds. Hopefully after getting one early today I can kick on in this shortened season and pick up a couple more.

“It is nice to get this first big score and hopefully there are plenty more runs out there for me and Coxy tomorrow.”

Although Leaning had to wait until August this year for his Kent debut, the move was announced almost a year ago.

He has had time to settle in, and is enjoying the new challenge.

“It has been awesome” he said. “I have absolutely loved it.

“It is a really good club to come to. It is relaxed, chilled out and the coaching stuff are very keen to let you improve the way you want to improve and facilitate that.

“The lads are a great bunch. They have been quick to get stuck into me a little bit, but I expected it and it is all part and parcel of it. I have really enjoyed the change – it has been a massive breath of fresh air and now I am hoping for some good times to come.”

Kent lead Sussex by six runs overnight, but will be hoping, just one wicket down, to build a decent lead in the remaining 35 overs of batting before they have to declare under tournament rules.

They bowled Sussex out for 332 in the first innings, and Leaning is confident in himself and his team’s bowlers to help earn Kent the win.

“They are a good attack, so there were going to be little periods where they bowled well and stopped us from scoring” said the batsman.

“But I thought we dealt with the pressure quite well. We [with Cox] built together, rotated the strike and did not let the bowlers settle against either one of us, so I feel like we bounced off each other quite well.

“It is a really good pitch. I am sure they will come hard at us again in the morning, but if me and Coxy can get through that then we can really grind them down and hopefully get up towards 400/450 as a team, and hopefully me and Coxy can get the runs to do that.

“They are a good side so there are always going to be times when they bat well, and they did yesterday. They had some partnerships, but we stuck at it.

“I think it is a lot easier for a batter to prepare for a season like this. As a bowler you can feel undone because normally you would have five or six months to prepare for a season. But to have three months off and hit your straps right away is really tough.

“You can only bowl so many overs in the nets with the workloads that are in place to keep the guys fit. It is not always easy to come in and hit the top of off six balls in a row, but I thought as the innings went on the lads hit the straps and put the guys under pressure.”