Sam Billings steps down as Kent captain in four-day cricket: Jack Leaning named new captain in County Championship

Sam Billings has stepped down as Kent captain in four-day cricket for the rest of the season.

Billings has endured a miserable 2023 with the bat in Division 1 of the County Championship, scoring just 92 runs in 10 innings with a top score of 31.

He’s been dismissed for a duck three times and averages only 9.20. It prompted Billings to leave himself out of the team for the defeat against Surrey at Canterbury earlier this month.

Billings had opted to miss this year’s IPL in order to focus on his red-ball game with Kent.

After turning down the chance to link up with Kolkata Knight Riders, Billings said at the time he wanted “to focus on longer-format cricket at the start of the English summer” with Kent.

Jack Leaning, who skippered the side in Billings’ absence against Surrey, has been appointed four-day captain and will lead the team at Northamptonshire in a four-day game, starting on Sunday morning.

“Kent Cricket can confirm that men’s captain, Sam Billings, has decided to step down as captain in red-ball cricket for the rest of the 2023 season,” said a club statement.

“Jack Leaning, who captained Kent against Surrey last time out in the Championship, will captain the side in Sam’s absence.

“Billings will continue to lead the side in the Vitality Blast and remains the club captain in men’s cricket.”

Kent have won their last six T20 Blast games under Billings’ guidance, moving them into the top four of the South Group and with a great chance of reaching the quarter-final stages.

But they sit in the bottom two in Division 1 of the County Championship after winning just one of their first seven matches.

Billings’ decision comes almost a year to the day since he was drafted into the England Test squad as a Covid replacement