By Andrew Gidley

Jamie Clifford has welcomed the retention of the County Championship in its present form and the revamped 14-match t20 competition in the new domestic cricket format announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board to begin in 2014.

Kent’s chief executive said: "The championship is a competition that has stood the test of time, one that people love and has great worth.

"Spreading T20 matches throughout the season is something we think is crucial.

"It is better than playing three times in a week or some of the other silly scenarios we have had in the past.

"It is a programme Kent believe in and it is our responsibility to make it work. I am confident we will do that when the time comes."

The schedule is the result of the Morgan Review and the market research study conducted by Populus last summer, which also sees the return of the Clydesdale Bank 50-over competition replacing the 40-over format.

One new innovation is that the first 14 four-day matches will begin on a Sunday, something which Kent Supporters’ Club president Brian Rudd believes is a good thing.

Mr Rudd said: "The older, retired people will still go and it will also attract the youngsters on their day off. I am pleased the T20 games will be played throughout the summer because having four-day matches crammed into two distinct halves didn’t work."