Matt Coles says the prospect of first class cricket returning to Maidstone is exciting.

The 23-year-old all-rounder, born and educated in the town and now living in Allington, remembers watching Kent’s last Championship match at The Mote against Gloucestershire in June 2005, when 18 wickets fell on the second day.

Kent won by seven wickets, only for the ECB to deem the pitch “poor,” impose an eight-point penalty and remove the ground from the first class list.

Coles said: “I was there the other day and saw the plans (for the proposed £4m redevelopment) and hope they go ahead. Cricket there has been a big part of my life.”

Meanwhile, Coles says it was a “spur of the moment” decision to send him in first wicket down, on his way to a competition best double – 40 and 3-14 in the eight-wicket Friends Life t20 win over Sussex Sharks at Hove last week.

He said: “I gave myself a chance to get a couple of sighters, looking to play with freedom and no fear and it came off.

“I did things a touch differently with the ball to what I had been doing previously, looking to bowl variations, instead of just one way and got the rewards.”