Kent head coach Matt Walker on their seam bowling attack injury crisis, their battle to avoid County Championship Division 1 relegation and on-loan spinner Aron Nijjar

Head coach Matt Walker concedes Kent’s seam bowling injury crisis is “brutal” as they aim to avoid relegation.

Kent’s battle to stay in County Championship Division 1 looks set to go to the wire as they finish the summer against Lancashire at Canterbury from Tuesday.

New Zealand bowler Ben Lister had been due to play in their run-in - but injured his hamstring on international duty against England last Friday at Lord’s.

Nathan Gilchrist and all-rounder Grant Stewart are out with hamstring problems while bowler Matt Quinn isn’t fit.

To compound matters, veteran campaigner Michael Hogan limped off on the first day of Kent’s match against Somerset at Taunton yesterday.

Jas Singh and Arafat Bhuiyan are the only out-and-out senior seam bowlers fully fit.

“We’ve had a tough week with injuries again,” admitted Walker, speaking on Monday evening. “It’s been brutal!

“It’s sort of summed up our season in lots of ways. Gilly [Gilchrist] picked up an injury which is a real blow for him, having not played much this year. He looked like he was getting back towards his best but pulled his hamstring.

“Grant fought really hard to come back from a season-ending injury 12 days ago. He looked to be on the right path and then he aggravated his hamstring again. He’s now out for the season.

“Matt Quinn is still not fit after an abductor injury which hasn’t got better and then there’s Ben Lister. He was meant to come to us after those New Zealand games but has managed to pull his hamstring so he’s now flown home.

“You couldn’t script it. It seems to be one of those seasons. We can’t seem to get bodies fit and, when they are fit, they don’t seem to stay fit.

“It’s been a real challenge.”

While it’s the second successive season where Kent have