Kent name Heino Kuhn as interim captain during Sam Billings' IPL stint

Captain Sam Billings and vice Joe Denly are due to be at the Indian Premier League until late May with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively - and both could also be busy with England this summer

Kent have selected Heino Kuhn as their locum captain as they try to establish themselves as a force in Division One of the County Championship again after an eight-year absence.

Captain Sam Billings and vice Joe Denly are due to be at the Indian Premier League until late May with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively - and both could also be busy with England this summer. So Kent have turned to the South African, 34, who made such an impact last summer, with Daniel Bell-Drummond as vice-captain.

Kuhn, a Kolpak signing, made 780 runs to help Kent finish as Division Two runners-up. He also scored 696 on the way to the Royal London One-Day Cup final, in which they lost to Hampshire. Kuhn initially seems likely to lead Kent in five Championship matches, and the 50-over competition (the final is on May 25), and then it could depend on England selections - Billings is in the 50-over set-up, Denly will hope to retain his Test place for the Ashes.

"It obviously raised a great debate among us about who was right for that role," said first-team coach Matt Walker. "I don't think it was an obvious choice necessarily. There were some alternative options, and maybe trying the different route of giving a younger player some development - with Daniel in the vice-captaincy role that will be good for his development.

"We weren't quite sure if Heino would want to do it after only being here for a year, but he was honoured to be asked. He got to know the guys very well last year. He said at the end of last season he wanted to develop his leadership role with the batting group. We came back to the fact that he is the obvious choice in terms of experience and international quality, and the boys respect him hugely. It's another captain we've changed - we had two last year [Denly stood in for Billings, who was at the IPL), and now another one this year, but Heino will almost certainly be involved in both formats at the start of last year."

^{Sam Billings will miss the start of the county season at the IPL}

It will be a testing campaign for Kent, who will be without New Zealand paceman Matt Henry, who took 75 Championship wickets in 11 matches last year. They decided that with Bilings and Denly away, they should sign an overseas batsman. Australia opener Matt Renshaw arrives for the first five Championship matches. "He's an outstanding young player and he will be keen and hungry for runs," said director of cricket Paul Downton. "He started last season well with Somerset and he is a left-hander which is always handy to have.

"We are in constant communication with Matt," said Walker. "He just doesn't fit this year. He understood the reasons why we wanted to go down the batting route. We'd love to see him back here at some stage."

Kent are talking to a bowler for the remainder of the summer. It seems unlikely to be Henry however, as Kent expect him to be in New Zealand's World Cup squad.

Bell-Drummond will be looking to reignite talk of an England call-up, while Sean Dickson and Zak Crawley aim to build on the progress made in 2018. Dickson scored three centuries and Crawley struck his first in September, against Glamorgan.

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Darren Stevens, 43, will be able to offer Kuhn advice as he hopes to show he can still be effective in the top flight. Ivan Thomas took 24 wickets at 26 last summer, but is in rehab after an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Harry Podmore had a decent season after his move from Middlesex, but Will Gidman and James Tredwell have retired.

Adam Milne and Mohammad Nabi will join up for the Blast. Nabi smashed 86 off 32 balls for Leicestershire at Old Trafford in last year's competition.

Kent have just returned from a pre-season training camp in Paarl, South Africa. Their Championship opener is at Somerset on April 5. They will be encouraged by the fact that only one team goes down this year, with three coming up to create a 10-team top division.

"It will be a challenge,"said Walker. "We are here to compete, to win it - realistically can we do that? We will find out. We are not going into survive or play safe cricket. I think we have the squad to be positive. Last year we won more games than any other county. If we start well with a win that will settle everyone down."

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