Vice-captain Sam Northeast says despite a ‘disappointing start to the season,’ he still feels the Kent squad have improved since last year.

Northeast hit 77 over two-and-a-half hours in the middle which made up almost half of his side’s second innings total and ensured Essex at least had a testing target of 193 to chase on the third day.

The 25-year-old said he could take particular satisfaction from his knock due to the difficult pitch at Chelmsford, which the batsman says left a ‘sour taste.’

He said: “It is a disappointing start to the season, especially having to play on a pitch like that. Speaking as a batter, it didn’t feel fair.

“It was not a great way to start the season and to be honest it left a sour taste, but we have to adapt to the conditions.

“Of course these things happen in early season, but the disappointment was that the wicket was not just green with sideways movement, the problem was the unpredictable bounce.

"It was nipping around, up and down, and David Masters in particular was getting it to pop off a length.”

He added: "I can take some satisfaction from (my second innings) – the conditions were tricky – but I was disappointed not to take it further. It is something to build on though.”

Despite the frustration of losing their first game, Northeast says the squad are in good shape ahead of their weekend trip to Lancashire in LV= County Championship Division 2.

He claimed: “It’s a tough start but I have still seen a step forward from last year.

“We genuinely believe we can beat anyone on our day, it just didn’t quite happen this time.

“We had moments in the game where we could have clinched it. We didn’t quite get it right at the start of their second innings and we should have done better when they were four or five down in the first innings. It’s all about making those moments count.

“Spirits are still high, we feel we have improved and we have a lot of batters who have been in good form – hopefully this doesn’t have too much of an impact and we’ll have a better pitch on Sunday."