Jack Leaning replaces Sam Billings as Kent's red-ball captain

Billings has only scored 92 runs in 10 first-class innings in 2023, including being dismissed for three ducks, while Kent lost three and won just one of his six matches as captain

Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings has stepped down as red-ball captain for the remainder of the 2023 season.

Jack Leaning will step in as skipper in the County Championship, with Billings continuing to lead the side in the T20 Blast and remaining as club captain.

Billings opted to skip the 2023 Indian Premier League in order to focus on four-day cricket but has endured a miserable start to the red-ball season, scoring just 92 runs in 10 first-class innings. He has been dismissed for a duck on three occasions and has a high score of 31.

^{Jack Leaning is taking over as captain [Alex Pantling/Getty Images]}

Under his captaincy, Kent won their opening match of the season, defeating Northamptonshire by seven wickets, before embarking on a run of three defeats and two draws.

He did not feature in Kent's most recent Championship outing – they lost to Surrey by five wickets in mid-June – and has not been named in their 13-man squad to face Northamptonshire, starting June 25.

Billings has played 88 first-class matches across his career, scoring 3,628 runs at 31.27, including six centuries and 15 half-centuries. He has three Test caps for England, all of which came in 2022.

Kent currently sit ninth in Division One, 10 points clear of bottom-placed Northamptonshire and two points from safety, albeit having played one game more than the teams around them.