Joe Denly remains disappointed with himself despite his first half-century since returning to Kent and passing a career milestone at Old Trafford.

Denly hit 60 in Kent’s second innings during the nine-wicket loss against Lancashire, his 35th first class 50 to add to a first-innings 28.

It represented a marked improvement after the 29-year-old went for 3 and 0 at Chelmsford, as well as putting down two catches which might have helped Kent take control in a game they lost by five wickets against Essex.

Denly admitted: “Essex was a frustrating week for me.

“I didn’t contribute with the bat as I’d have liked and was disappointed with myself in the field.

“I dropped a couple of catches which ended up costing us pretty dearly. You have got to take your opportunities when they come along and it annoyed me a lot.”

He added: “I felt comfortable at the crease in both innings at Old Trafford and was pleased to get a score, although disappointed not to have gone on and got a really big one.”

The second innings knock took Denly past 7,000 first class runs in his 129-match career but he added: “I don’t really follow milestones.

“I tend to find out after through people making me aware on twitter. It doesn’t mean a great deal to me at this stage – in fact I’d have liked to have got to 7,000 a lot quicker than I have.”