County Championship: Jas Singh impresses as Kent replace side against Sussex after Covid-19 case

Kent debutant Jas Singh (right) picked up four wickets, including Australia international Travis Head

Kent were forced to pick an entirely new side for their County Championship match against Sussex, and 15 wickets fell on the first day at Canterbury.

A positive Covid-19 test forced Kent's first XI into isolation, meaning the hosts named four first-class debutants.

Teenage seamer Jas Singh (4-51) carved through the Sussex top order and Harry Podmore (3-49) saw off the tail as the visitors were bowled out for 181.

But Jamie Atkins and Ollie Robinson reduced Kent to 69-5 at the close.

The start was delayed by an hour and, after winning the toss and deciding to field, 18-year-old Singh gave a Kent side made up of second XI and homegrown players the upper hand by removing openers Ali Orr (21) and Tom Haines (25) before lunch.

After Harrison Ward departed lbw, right-armer Singh had his third wicket when Australia international Travis Head drove straight to Heino Kuhn at extra cover.

Teenagers James Coles and Oli Carter put on 51 for the fifth wicket but then Carter flashed at a Singh delivery outside his off stump and was caught behind by debutant keeper Harry Houillon.

Two wickets in two balls followed as Danial Ibrahim edged Nathan Gilchrist (2-24) behind and Coles, who was earlier dropped at first slip on four, fell lbw for 36 to Hamidullah Qadri's first ball.

Stand-in Sussex skipper Robinson offered some resistance but Podmore took the final three wickets as the visitors added just eight runs to the scoreboard from 173-7.

Robinson got an early breakthrough in the Kent innings, trapping Joe Gordon lbw, before 19-year-old paceman Atkins (3-21) saw off Marcus O'Riordan, Kuhn and Dan Lincoln in increasingly gloomy conditions.

England man Robinson sent Houillon back to the pavilion for a duck, before bad light stopped play with six overs remaining and former Sussex batsman Harry Finch unbeaten on 24.

Kent 'conscious of possibility' of outbreak

The Kent team which beat Surrey in the T20 Blast on Friday were deemed to be close contacts of the unnamed player who tested positive for coronavirus, and have begun a 10-day spell of isolation.

The Spitfires' nine-wicket victory at The Kia Oval secured a quarter-final berth in the T20 Blast with two games to spare in the South Group.

Joe Denly, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Jack Leaning, Jordan Cox, Darren Stevens and Matt Milnes were among the players to miss out on the game against Sussex.

Separately, visiting captain Ben Brown was absent while self-isolating as a precaution.

The late Kent team change will not have an effect on qualification for the next stage of the Championship, as neither club are able to qualify from Group Three.

"With the emergence of the Delta variant and recent release in lockdown restrictions, the club has been conscious of the increased possibility of an outbreak," Kent chief executive Simon Storey told the club website.

"Overnight, the club worked swiftly to identify a replacement squad to take on Sussex."

Who are Kent's debutants?

Harry Finch is the only debutant with first-class appearances.

The 26-year-old played 112 times for Sussex before being released last September and has been playing for Kent's second XI.

Fellow batsman Dan Lincoln, 26, also has previous county experience having played nine T20 Blast games for Middlesex in 2019 and 2020.

The former Reading academy goalkeeper recently signed a contract to play non-league football for Harrow Borough.

Batsman Joe Gordon, wicketkeeper Harry Houillon, both 19, and seamer Jas Singh, 18, have played in Kent's academy and are making their senior debuts.

• The most remarkable comeback: The incredible account of Ian Botham going from zero to hero, twice

• Crouchy's Year-Late Euros: Relive all the best bits of the series with Euros legends and England stars