Kent’s Harry Finch hopes the hard work over the winter will reap rewards as he looks to break into Spitfires’ T20 Blast squad.

Finch, initially drafted into Kent’s squad during the pandemic before he signed professional terms in 2022, was rapidly thrust into being the county’s first-choice wicketkeeper.

But with fellow wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings still Spitfires’ Blast skipper, Finch has struggled to establish himself in the game’s shortest format, either behind the stumps or as an outfield player.

He undertook plenty of close-season white-ball work, though, and is eager to see that pay off.

He said: “I’d always been a fielder, anyway, and I’m only recently-new to keeping.

“I can offer a lot to the team in the field and I can offer a lot to the team with the bat.

“It’s an area of my game that I’ve probably not had a chance to work on in the last four or five years. Naturally, all my time has been focused on red-ball cricket because that’s how you get a contract.

“But it was really nice to have this winter where we had a six-week block after Christmas to just focus on white-ball stuff. I saw a lot of improvements in those six weeks.

“Hopefully, what I’ve worked on during the winter, that’ll help, coming into the season.

“With the way red-ball cricket is going, that’ll probably come into red-ball cricket at some point, as well.

“Batting at six or seven, there will be scenarios where it’s becoming a T20 game and, hopefully, the work I’ve done this winter will put me in good stead.”

Finch headed to Mumbai, India, with Kent for some warm-weather training in February ahead of the upcoming season.

He said: “It was good - other than getting really ill! It was an amazing experience and something that I’d always wanted to do.

“I have come back with a fresh, new, perspective on life. Just going out for a coffee is the best thing ever whereas you’re a little bit restricted there. But the cricket was awesome.

“The pitches were good and it was just great to get outdoors, hitting some balls.

“It’s just a shame a few of us got pretty ill, but there were benefits to that.

“When we came back, the fitness-testing was good!”

While a similar tour had happened a year previously, Finch was unable to make it so was thrilled when the opportunity came around again.

He explained: “I was away last winter in Wellington but, once I knew I was going to be around and Mumbai was going to happen, it was a no-brainer for me - for batting and keeping.

“I didn’t actually end up catching loads of balls, purely because I was keeping to bowlers that had batters the whole time.

“But even just keeping on pitches like that, I’d never really done that before. There’s some ridiculous bowlers out there.

“There was just a conveyor belt of left-arm spinners, who were amazing, so it was great to keep to them.”

And such experiences are something Finch felt might have past him by at the start of the Covid health crisis when he was released by Sussex in September 2020.

But the 30-year-old’s plans for the forthcoming season show he has no intentions to rest on his laurels.

“Not a moment goes by where I don’t look back at that and use that as fuel, and use that as a bit of perspective, just to remember - if I’m not having a great time - I could still be out of the game,” he revealed.

“I’m really lucky to be doing what I’m doing but, also, I’ve worked extremely hard to get into this situation where I’ve got a contract.

“But I don’t want it to stop there. I want to see how far I can go. I want to become a three-format player.

“It’s great I’m the keeper here and part of the red-ball team - but I want to get into the T20 team. I feel like I could offer a lot in that format.

“But certainly experiences like Mumbai - when I think back to when I was scratching around, didn’t have a job and had no income three years ago - they’re pretty cool.”