Daniel Bell-Drummond has been appointed as Kent Cricket’s Vice-Captain with immediate effect.

The 27-year-old has been a ‘One Club Man’ since joining the county at the age of seven, rising through the Club’s Age Group sides and Academy squads, before graduating into the first-team as a 17-year-old in 2011.

Bell-Drummond is soon to reach the milestone of making 300 first-team appearances for the county, having featured as a stand-in captain on 22 occasions to date. He was the top scorer of the Vitality Blast last season and captained the Kent Spitfires in eight matches in the tournament, winning five.

On being named as the Club’s Vice-Captain, Bell-Drummond said: “It’s a fantastic honour for me to be named Kent’s Vice-Captain.”

“I have always worn the Kent shirt with pride, and to now make the next step up into a vice-captaincy role is something I am really looking forward to.”

Kent’s Director of Cricket, Paul Downton, said: “In all spheres of sport, it’s always heartening to see a homegrown player develop into a leader in the dressing room, which ‘DBD’ has definitely done in his 20-year association with Kent Cricket.”

“Whilst Sam Billings remains our Club Captain, when Daniel has had the opportunity to captain the side in Sam’s absence, he has done so with a calm authority; and this has made him the obvious choice to be promoted to Vice Captain of the Club.”

“I’d also like to thank Joe Denly for his time as Vice-Captain. Joe remains a leader in the dressing room, both on and off the field, and continues to have a huge appetite to score a lot of runs for Kent.”