Kent’s head coach Matthew Walker believes his Spitfires side need to find some consistent form, and fast, if they are to qualify for the knock-out stages of this season’s NatWest T20 Blast.

Walker’s side dropped to sixth place in the South Group table following this week’s back-to-back defeats against Gloucestershire and Middlesex and the coach says that the Jekyll and Hyde performances must end soon.

“There has been a perfect symmetry to our displays in that we play really well and then perform poorly,” said the former Kent and Essex batsman.

“In the two games we’ve won we have looked like a brilliant side, yet in the games we’ve lost the team have looked a fragile unit, particularly when it comes down to our middle-order batting.

“We’ve struggled to adapt to wickets when they’ve not been the type of surfaces we’d really like them to be. All our batters want the ball coming on and pace on the ball, they want to trust the surface to hit through the line. But we’ve struggled when the pitches haven’t been like that, so we need to learn, and learn quick.

“I want the guys to make sure that they are very clear in their thinking when they go about setting a total on theses tricky types of pitch and not to panic. In the games we’ve lost we just haven’t got our thinking right and that’s frustrating because there’s some very experienced players in the side now.

“I guess T20 can be like that, it’s a format where you can’t get too excited when you win or get too down when results don’t quite go your way. What I want to see is the side learning from their mistakes and if we do that we’ll be fine.”

That said, Walker says there have been several positives to come out of the campaign thus far. He said: “Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond have excelled overall, the Essex win at Beckenham was a fine team display and the victory at The Oval was one of the best I’ve seen, chasing down 206 to win.

“Also, we’ve seen a couple of exciting performances from our young spinner, Imran Qayyum. He’s really improved since Min Patel spotted him playing in the Middlesex League and has something about him. He’s confident in his own ability, but is also diligent and hungry for success.

“He’s come in and taken his chance, grabbed the moment by showing us what he can do. He’s looked unfazed, found a plan and bowled beautifully to his fields and that’s been really pleasing.”

Qayyum is likely to be named in the Spitfires’ squad to face Sussex at Hove (Sunday from 2.30pm) and against Somerset (Canterbury from 6.30pm) next Thursday, July 27.

Kent captain Sam Northeast will also hope to include Kiwi pace bowler Adam Milne who missed their previous two games with a slight quad muscle strain.

Kent v Sussex match facts

Kent Spitfires have won four of the last five games between these teams.

Sussex Sharks are yet to beat Kent Spitfires on a Sunday (L2).

The Spitfires have won three of their last four in Sussex; the hosts did win in the most recent such encounter however.

Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan took 3/15 and 3/18 respectively in that last meeting in Hove for Sussex Sharks.