Kent’s recently appointed captain Sam Billings believes there is already positive change at the club.

The 26-year-old replaced Sam Northeast as skipper in January and is part of a fresh look to the senior management of the club.

Ben Green took over chief executive duties in February and Paul Downton has been installed as director of cricket.

Billings said: “I have been at the club since I was eight and of course it was a proud moment especially with the group of people we have at the moment.

“For me it is a great opportunity and one that will improve me not just as a captain and cricketer but also as a person as well. I do see it as a great learning experience.

“I’m not going to be the finished article straight away but I would like to think I learn pretty quickly. It’s about adapting and taking us forward now.

“Ben Green and Paul Downton have also come into new roles so it is very much a new look Kent Cricket and it is very exciting.”

Billings starred for Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash in Australia this winter and part of England’s One Day International and T20 series Down Under.

He has been heavily involved with Kent’s signing of four players ahead of the start of the season while out in Australia.

Billings said: “I’m very excited at the way things are moving forward. That’s summed up in the way we have been very clinical in the signings and very different to how it has been done in the past.

“I had a big input with the signings. I know Marcus (Stoinis) very well, he played second team cricket with me and actually stayed at my parents house as he needed a place to crash.

“He’s a great bloke and a three-dimensional cricketer. I ended up taking him out for dinner in Brisbane and basically said are you coming to help me win the T20 Blast this year.”

The wicket-keeper batsman will also travel out to India this weekend where he joins up with Chennai Super Kings for the IPL, which begins on April 7 meaning he will miss the start of Kent’s season.

Billings said: “I’m playing with du Plessis and Dhoni – two guys who have been fantastic captains for their country and surely for me as a young captain to pick their brains there aren’t many better people to learn from.

“I had committed to the IPL and the club were very much on board with it. We decided that back in October when I signed my new contract.

“The key thing to understand is that the cricket landscape has changed over the last five years and people need to realise that as a captain I’m never going to stand in the way of anyone if an IPL franchise come calling.

“It’s great for Kent Cricket to be producing homegrown players good enough to play in the IPL and all over the world. That’s ultimately as a squad and as an academy that’s what we should pride ourselves on.”