Adam Hollioake has praised Kent opener Ben Compton.

Compton, grandson of the great Denis Compton, struck an unbeaten 124 as he shared a 225-run second-innings partnership with Tawanda Muyeye in their eight-wicket County Championship Division 2 win over Middlesex - Kent’s first red-ball victory at Canterbury in two years.

While the 31-year-old is often a less flamboyant and aggressive batsman than many of his team-mates, new head coach Hollioake is already aware of his importance to the side.

“I don't know who doesn't give him any credit,” said Hollioake. “I certainly do.

“If there's people out there who don't, that's up to them. I know how important he is to this team.

“He's old fashioned in the sense, if you bowl well, he'll respect it and he'll try and see you off.

“But on Sunday, he added that extra string to his bow where they bowled poorly at the end and he put them away.

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“So, he's improving as a player, as well. I love having opening batsmen who can see the new ball off.

“I think it's an undervalued skill these days.”

Compton finished one run behind Muyeye, but he contributed 16 fours and a six to ensure Kent secured victory against Middlesex within three days.

Hollioake admitted: “He hit some great shots so he's expanding his game, as well.

“Him setting the game up for your Tawandas and your Zak Crawleys is what you want. You need those guys.

“We can't all just come out, playing a shot-a-ball.”

The triumph over Middlesex was a first competitive one for Hollioake in charge at Canterbury as the legendary ex-Surrey skipper continues to win over the Kent faithful.

“They have been great,” he said. “This is new for me. I've never been on the side of the fence where they clap so it's been nice.

“We played against them for 13 years at Surrey and I don't think I ever got clapped once! I got booed at the members' night the other night, to which I had to remind them I’m actually a Kent coach now.

“They've got a lot of good characters in that crowd and it's nice to be on their side for once and get a couple of claps.

“I had to walk around the other day to go to a meeting and they were quite welcoming - it was almost a bit unsettling actually!

“But it's nice to see them getting behind us.”

It’s so far, so good, for Hollioake after his first few weeks as Kent head coach.

The 53-year-old said: “I'm loving it.

"They're such a good bunch of guys, lovely kids, hard-working.

“They, obviously, had a tough year last year and a lot of injuries and things didn't go their way. It's just nice to be able to see them do well and see a smile on their face.

“My time's gone, I’ve had my time and so it's just nice to be able to live your life vicariously through these young guys. It's just great. It's great to be involved.

“It makes you feel young again yourself.”

Kent’s second red-ball win of the summer left them with an extra day off on Monday for the second straight week.

“Grant Stewart has got a recovery business - ice baths, saunas and stuff like that - so a lot of the boys get into that,” revealed Hollioake.

“We then try and get ourselves prepared for the next game.”

Next for Kent is another County Championship game, which will see them face Gloucestershire in Canterbury from tomorrow.

They are skippered by Test international batsman Cameron Bancroft while fellow Australian Cameron Green is due to arrive in time to play for Mark Alleyne’s troops.

Hollioake said: “They present a decent challenge.

“Everyone we play against in county cricket, they're all good cricketers.

“If you get paid to play cricket, you're good, so we're not losing sleep over the fact that they have international players. We played against international players against Northants and Middlesex.

“They are just two other guys.

"We just have to concentrate on what we do.”

Kent have plenty of welcome selection headaches, with spinner Matt Parkinson and teenage all-rounder Jaydn Denly yet to feature competitively in 2025.

Overseas South African seam bowler Keith Dudgeon has left Kent after just one game, having sustained a knee injury, ahead of the Middlesex match. The right-armer was initially expected to be available until the end of May.

But he was replaced by fellow overseas bowler Kashif Ali against Middlesex as the Pakistan Test player made his Kent debut.

Hollioake added: “You'd much rather be thinking ‘Who do we pick?’ because there's people battling for places in the side, rather than going ‘Who the hell do we pick because no one's playing any good?.

“It’s definitely a nice problem to have.”