After serving as the Kent men’s team captain for
almost six years, Sam Billings has resigned.
Billings, who has a contract with Kent that runs
through the end of 2025, has already given up leading the red-ball cricket team
following a difficult summer in which he averaged 9.20, and he will now do the
same for the T20 team.
In his first season in command after being chosen in
2018 to succeed Sam Northeast, Billings guided Kent to promotion from Division
Two. Although Kent failed to advance from the group stage in each of the
previous two T20 tournaments, he also supervised success in the 2021 Vitality
Blast.
“It has been an incredible honour to captain this
great club,” Billings said. “To follow in the footsteps of so many
wonderful captains over the years has been truly special. Hopefully I’ve left
the club in a better place and taken the cap forward.
“Special thanks must go to Paul Downton for the
unwavering support and advice he has offered throughout. Alongside Paul and
Matt Walker we set out with three clear aims that we wanted to try and achieve:
to produce England players, win trophies and play Division One cricket. The
environment that has been created behind the scenes has achieved all three aims
consistently, which I’m incredibly proud of. It has been an amazing project to
be a part of.
“Finals Day at Edgbaston in 2021, lifting the
Vitality Blast trophy, will always go down as one of my personal highlights of
my career.
“It is time for someone else to take the club
forward alongside a fresh energy from the new director of cricket, Simon Cook.
As always, I’ll give everything to support that individual and continue to
drive the team on for further success. I’m looking forward to focusing in on my
own game, to get back to the levels that I aspire to perform at, more
consistently for the team.
“Thank you to all the members, staff and most
importantly the players for all of the support throughout. I’ll see you all
back at the Spitfire Ground in 2024.”