Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens on coaching South East Stars ahead of The Hundred and Kent's Royal London One-Day Cup chances

Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens has been coaching ahead of this year’s The Hundred competition - and loving every minute of it.

Stevens has endured a stop-start summer for Kent but says he is now fully fit.

He has also been working with South East Stars ahead of the second edition of The Hundred which gets under way next month.

“I have been doing a lot of work with South East Stars,” he said.

“It’s been a breath of fresh air.

“As much as I want to go into the men’s side of it, the women have been really good.”

At 46, Stevens has one eye on his future once he does eventually hang up his boots, after an extraordinary career, having spent time coaching with South African Gary Kirsten and also offering one-to-one coaching sessions.

“I had a sit down with Paul Downton [director of cricket] and Walks [Matt Walker, head coach] about four years ago. I said I would love to stay at the club coaching [following retirement],” he recalled.

“These players in the first-team, I have been a team-mate and sort of a coach during games to most of them in the middle.

"I feel like I have their respect. I speak to most of them daily.

“They said ‘You cannot go from being a player to coach straight away’. I’ll be honest, I think that was a bit of a get-out. But I suppose they wanted me to go away and work on my coaching.

“Since then, I have spent time in South Africa and done one-to-one coaching, and with the Stars thing, I loved coaching over there in the winter.

“The only downside is driving to Beckenham three times a week! Summer has been a bit scarce but I have had a bit of time there.

“I would love to go down the coaching route.

"Playing across four decades, I feel like I have got plenty to give.”

For now, though, Stevens insists he is