Captain Sam Northeast is confident that good times are just around the corner for Kent, after his side narrowly missed out on promotion.

New rules this year saw only one team promoted from Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship, with Kent occupying second place behind neighbours Essex as the season came to a close.

Skipper Northeast, 26, who scored more than 2,000 runs across all competitions in an outstanding campaign, said that he felt his side were not far away from success after an impressive season.

“We would have liked to have gone into the [final] game with a chance of winning the title. It wasn’t to be, but we secured second, and I think the guys can be very proud of a good season”, he told KSN.

“We’ve competed on all fronts. It’s always disappointing to not come away winning something. We are a club who are ambitious, and we want to get some trophies in the cabinet going forward.

“We know we’ve played some good cricket, and I think the future looks bright.”

After a steady start to their four-day campaign, Kent kicked on in the latter stages of the season, winning three consecutive County Championship games against Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Sussex, before a heavy defeat in their penultimate game at home to Northamptonshire ended their promotion hopes.

“In the last two months of playing Championship cricket, I think we’ve been excellent”, Northeast said.

“Winning three on the bounce has been fantastic, getting to another quarter-final in one-day cricket just shows exactly what a side we are in that. All year I think we’ve been standing up against the very best, and showed that we are a team that is to be reckoned with. Hopefully we can go up another level next year.”

The Ashford-born skipper admitted he was looking forward to a rest after a long season in which he has played every single game.

“I’ve really enjoyed it. Don’t get me wrong – it’s hard work, and I’m pretty tired at the end of the year now, and ready for a break, no doubt about that”, he said.

“But I’ve really enjoyed it, I’ve got a great bunch of guys to work with, and we’ve got a lot of young players who can continue to improve. It’s going to be an important winter, and we’re going to have to get our heads down and work hard, and hopefully come back and win this division next year.

“Guys are learning about their games. There’s a clear message in terms of how we want to play, and the guys have responded really well to that. Every player has taken responsibility and got the best out of themselves. We haven’t won the thing, so there’s still room for improvement, but we’re heading in the right direction.”