Head coach Matt Walker has explained when fans may next get to see club skipper Sam Billings in a Kent shirt this summer.

Billings stepped down as Kent captain in four-day cricket for the rest of the season last month and led Spitfires in their 2023 T20 Blast campaign, narrowly missing out on a place in the knockout stages.

Walker says the 32-year-old is having some time away from playing first-team cricket ahead of The Hundred competition - but didn’t rule out a comeback for him during Kent’s County Championship Division 1 run-in.

“I think he just needs a bit of time to process everything,” said Walker, with batsman Jack Leaning taking over as captain of Kent’s four-day squad.

“He will have a bit of time away, leading-up to The Hundred.

“People don’t realise the demands on a captain and what goes into it.

“It’s so full-on. It, obviously, takes its toll. It’s taken its toll on Sam.

“For him, he can have a breather, refresh his batteries, get himself right mentally and process it all - and actually just let Jack get on with it.

“Then, we will see what happens at the back-end of the season.

“He’s a quality player. It’s not happened this season, but that can happen to any player.

“With Sam, it’s important he gets himself mentally recovered and we’ll see what happens at the back-end of the season.”

Kent’s already depleted squad will lose the services of openers Tawanda Muyeye (Oval Invincibles), Daniel Bell-Drummond (London Spirit) and Dutch seam bowler Fred Klaassen (Manchester Originals) to The Hundred, ahead of their Royal London One-Day Cup defence, which starts next month.

The trio were among last week’s wildcard draft selections while Zak Crawley (London Spirit), Billings and Jordan Cox (Oval Invincibles) were already selected for the competition which will be in its third year.

Walker added: “That’s really exciting for them.

“With the injury situation we have, it does leave us a little bit short at the moment, but it’s not the end of the world in that competition.

“It’s an opportunity to develop young players.

“But, equally, we’re defending champions and would like to have a crack at it and may need to dip into the loan market.”

Strugglers Kent are in County Championship action against Essex at Chelmsford from Wednesday, having suffered a heavy defeat to Warwickshire inside three days at Canterbury this week.