Jimmy Adams: Our red-ball batting must improve

Head coach Jimmy Adams praised the Kia Oval pitch after Kent lost to Surrey by six wickets and admitted that the Kent's batting in the LV= County Championship must improve.

The visitors were dismissed for 99 in the second innings in stark contrast to the Spitfires' prolific form in white-ball cricket, topping the South Group table in the NatWest T20 Blast.

Former West Indies Test batsman Adams said: “It was an excellent cricket wicket and the ball never did anything out of the ordinary, although the bowlers had something to work with.

"In four-day cricket you usually have to work harder in your second innings for runs than you did in the first innings, but that’s the game.

“There was very little between the two teams for the first two and a half days, and then in our second innings we batted very poorly and didn’t give ourselves a fighting chance. Chasing around 200 would have been difficult, but 125 was not enough of a lead.

“We have been lacking consistency with the bat all season in red-ball cricket. It is a concern for all of us at the club.

"Our bowlers did well to earn us a small first innings lead but then the batting unit could not capitalise on that. The decision-making of our batsmen must improve.”