New Kent batting coach Toby Radford on the players’ work ethic and open-mindedness, and leading a pre-season trip to India

New batting coach Toby Radford has praised the work ethic and open-mindedness of Kent’s players.

Radford, who held a similar position with the West Indies national team and previously was a head coach of Middlesex and Glamorgan, has thrown himself into life in Canterbury since he started earlier this year.

On what he’s made of the current crop, the Welshman said: “The work ethic has been fantastic.

“They’ve been very professional and technically very good, as well as open-minded which, obviously, is nice for a coach. It means that they have got what I would call a real coachability.

“They’re wanting to improve, wanting to work on areas, and I’ve got a good knowledge of their game.

“I tend to video a lot of stuff, so I use video analysis and then show them areas where I can see (for) improvements. Coaching is a process, isn’t it?

“You kind of start on things now.

“As the season goes on, hopefully, they will improve.”

Radford replaces Alex Gidman, who has taken up a position with England Women’s side, having previously worked with newly-appointed Kent director of cricket Simon Cook during their time together at Middlesex.

The 52-year-old has also spent time with Kent wicketkeeper and T20 Blast skipper Sam Billings and exciting young all-rounder Joey Evison in recent years.

“The last couple of years, I’ve been doing a lot of my own stuff,” Radford explained. “I’d been out in Bangladesh and the Pakistan Junior League.

“I’d worked a lot with Simon Cook at Middlesex. We’ve stayed in touch over a long period of time and we’ve been fairly close.

“When Alex Gidman decided to take the role with the (England) Women, the job came up and he said ‘Is this something that you would be interested in applying for?’ It got me thinking