Kent (387-4) dominate first day of County Championship Division 1 match against Nottinghamshire in Canterbury after Zak Crawley century

Zak Crawley took centre stage on the first day of what may be his final Kent appearance of the season as they dominated their LV= Insurance County Championship fixture against Nottinghamshire in Canterbury.

The Ashes star cashed in after being dropped when he was on two, making 158 from 153 balls before he was caught and bowled by Calvin Harrison (2-104), who was the visitors’ most potent bowler.

Daniel Bell-Drummond was Kent’s next highest scorer (60) in their 398-4 while Jack Leaning and Harry Finch were unbeaten on 54 and 42, respectively, at stumps.

Opener Crawley, 25, reflected: “I knew we had this in us.

“We have a good batting line-up and it was a good deck to bat on so we’re, obviously, very happy with the situation we’re in at the moment.

“Hopefully, we can kick on.”

Kent were barely recognisable from their side which lost by 321 runs at Trent Bridge in July.

Of the seven changes, Crawley was back from England duty - albeit he’s now due to captain his country in a One-Day series against Ireland this month - and there were debuts for spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Aron Nijjar, signed on loan from Essex.

The major talking point, however, was the ongoing absence of club captain Sam Billings.

He had taken a break from red-ball cricket earlier in the season and, although Billings was included in the squad, Leaning remained captain and Finch retained the gloves.

Nottinghamshire handed a debut to Sri Lanka’s Asitha Fernando (1-63), just 24 hours after he’d arrived in the UK.

It looked like a vital toss to win and Kent’s openers put on 95 in a partnership of almost diametrically opposed styles.

Crawley played like he was still in Ashes mode, riding his luck at times. He was put down by Dane Paterson at point in only the