Sam Billings stood down from the role for the concluding rounds of the County Championship season and Leaning, who guided Kent to a victory and three crucial draws, wants to keep the responsibility for next season
Jack Leaning has put his name forward for the Kent red-ball captaincy after helping to guide the club to safety in County Championship Division One.
A third straight draw with Lancashire coupled with Middlesex's defeat at Nottinghamshire means the Canterbury club will be playing four-day cricket in the top flight in 2024.
Survival was achieved despite being without club skipper Sam Billings, who stood down from the leadership role in June and didn't feature in any of the final eight Championship games.
Leaning stepped into the breach with aplomb, amid the absence of key players and injuries to the bowling attack, in what he hopes is a dress rehearsal for getting the role on a long-term basis.
Kent underwent a change in leadership early in the season (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
"Hopefully, I'll get the job full-time for next year," he said, according to ECB reporters network.
"I've made it quite clear to take it on if that's what the club wants, but if it is someone else I'll be the first in line to help the new man take things forward."
No decision has been taken over Billings' red-ball future, but Kent's side will have a new look from next season with Jordan Cox bound for Essex.
A tense final day culminated in Middlesex's relegation after defeat at Nottinghamshire (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Constantly looking over their shoulder until Notts completed the chase of 207 to beat Middlesex, Kent's squad had to wait nearly 90 minutes after the stalemate with Lancashire was confirmed until they could celebrate retaining their Division One status.
"I couldn't really bring myself to watch it (the Middlesex game)," admitted Leaning, who is eyeing a winter reset ahead of next term. "I hate the unknown, I can deal with the good and the bad but that bit in between is pretty shambolic. I hate it!
"Luckily Notts did us a favour, but I thought we did ourselves a few favours over those last three games to pick up the points that we needed and ultimately we kept ourselves up. It's not just Notts today, it's us over the course of the season.
"Yes we don't want to be fighting at the bottom of the table, but we're in Division One and we've got the opportunity to start afresh and push ourselves up the table."
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