Kent head coach Walker to leave at end of season

Former Kent plyer Matt Walker took on the head coach role at the club in 2017

Kent head coach Matt Walker is to step down from his role at the end of the 2024 season after eight years.

Walker was appointed in 2017 having previously been an assistant coach. He spent 16 years at the county as a player, where he scored more than 16,000 runs in all formats.

Under the 50-year-old's tenure Kent won the T20 Blast in 2021 and One-Day Cup the following year, while they were also promoted to Division One of the County Championship in 2018.

"Now is the time for new ideas and new personnel to come in and make their own mark on men's cricket at Kent, something that I have really enjoyed doing in my time here," Walker said in the statement.

"The promotion to Division One and trophy successes have been fantastic to be a part of but most of all working with the players and the coaches here has always been the most rewarding."

Kent are bottom of the table and facing relegation back to Division Two at the end of this campaign, having won only one County Championship match with three remaining.

They also finished bottom of the southern group in the Blast and seventh in the One-Day Cup group to miss out on the knockout stages.

Kent director of cricket Simon Cook said Walker had been an "outstanding servant to the club" as both a player and coach.

“He is one of a handful of people to have won trophies as both a player and a coach, and his name will forever be associated with recent successes at Kent Cricket," Cook said.

Kent next play Hampshire at home on Monday, before hosting Nottinghamshire and finishing the season away to Durham on 26 September.