Kent Cricket's Jack Leaning says constant switching of formats has turned this summer's schedule into a shambles

Kent’s Jack Leaning has branded this summer’s schedule a “shambles” as players chop and change between the game’s different formats.

Leaning and his team-mates have had to swap T20 Blast mode for County Championship cricket again this week as players switch disciplines once more.

“I personally think it’s an absolute joke,” said Leaning. “I think it’s a bit of a shambles, to be honest.

“As players we’re expected to just dart between the two formats with very little rest and to perform at our best is hard.

“I think sometimes the powers that be - I imagine there’s a lot more things that go on - but they want to get as many people in.

“I appreciate there sometimes needs to be red-ball cricket around for people going to England or to appease members, but from a player’s perspective it’s bloody difficult.”

The team’s run of T20 matches was interrupted by a round of County Championship matches last month - which saw Kent beat Gloucestershire at Canterbury - before they returned to T20 action for four games.

Now after their Championship clash with Surrey this week, Kent are back in T20 action against Surrey today (Friday) and Glamorgan on Sunday before another block of County Championship games begins.

It’s not so much the number of games that are the issue - that’s an argument for another day - it’s the constant switching of formats that has proved disruptive for the players.

Finding time to practise is hard enough in the county schedule, so teams having to travel across the country post-T20 games with barely 24 hours to prepare for a four-day match is challenging, to say the least.

Leaning explained: “Last week we got back at four in the morning from Somerset for a T20 and then we’re having to play a Championship game the next