Kent director of cricket Paul Downton explains why no county cricket will be played at The Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells, this summer

Kent director of cricket Paul Downton says the county would love to return to playing county cricket in Tunbridge Wells.

All home matches this summer will be played at either The Spitfire Ground in Canterbury or Beckenham.

“It’s just Covid still, the regulations surrounding Covid,” Downton explained.

“At the moment, we are planning to have a season as normal.

"Players will go back into their normal dressing rooms, we will be dining in much smaller areas, but we’ve all been told by the ECB that you’ve got to have a Plan B.

“If Covid takes off again or something happens, you’ll have to revert to being able to accommodate social distancing in the sense of separating the teams, providing different areas and so on.

“Tunbridge Wells is a great ground with a great tradition, we really enjoy playing there.

“It’s council-owned and, to be honest, just doesn’t have the facilities to be able to cope with a Plan B, if it had to be used.”

Downton hopes supporters will be impressed with the work which has been going on behind-the-scenes during the close-season at Canterbury, with the Frank Woolley stand undergoing a £300,000 restoration.

It is hoped the stand will be operational for the first home match of the season against Lancashire on April 14.

Kent’s County Championship game at Beckenham against Surrey will start on Thursday, May 12, while they’ll also play a Royal London One-Day Cup match against Hampshire there on Sunday, August 7.

He said: “The reality is we have seven home Championship matches, seven home T20 matches and the one-day fixtures, so there aren’t that many to go around if you look at it.

“We are continuing to invest in Canterbury, so I think supporters will be really pleased to see the works that have been done