Gloucestershire could yet finish in third place in the second division table after a one-sided victory at Nevil Road. Only Sam Northeast, the England under-19 player who carried his bat in reaching his maiden first-class century, kept them in the field after tea with some assured strokes all round the wicket. He struck 23 fours and faced 157 balls, his stay at the crease terminated by a neck injury to Geraint Jones, who was unable to go in.

Northeast has the eye and reflexes of a high-class rackets player, which is what he is, and this century will doubtless be the first of many. A prolific run-scorer at school and in England representative cricket, he drove with authority through mid-on, punched the rising ball square of the wicket and pulled to good effect. Unlike the Gloucestershire batsmen who excelled in this match, he kept his shots on the ground. Rob Key put on 101 with him for the first wicket, but the batting that followed was pretty feeble.

This was a more straightforward victory than would have been the case earlier in the season as Kent had already been promoted to the first division, but that is not to detract from what was in all probability Gloucestershire’s finest performance of the season. What was more, they had to achieve it without James Franklin, who had an unbeaten century to his name overnight, in addition to five wickets in Kent’s first innings, and who did not continue his innings so as to fly to South Africa to join his countrymen in the Champions Trophy.

Anthony Ireland replaced him and was permitted to bowl. Any request to play for New Zealand has to be taken up owing to a clause in Franklin’s contract, but it begged the question: had Gloucestershire missed promotion by, say, one point, would they have sought compensation from their board? Tom Richardson, the club’s chief executive, did not know the answer to this hypothetical question.

In the absence of Franklin, Steve Adshead completed his second century of the season, with 18 fours and a six, a muscular piece of batting indeed. It is not yet known whether he will be playing for Gloucestershire next year or if he will move to Worcestershire, who are lacking a wicketkeeper now that Steven Davies is moving to Surrey.

After that, the bowlers shared the wickets of some lacklustre batsmen who had an eye on the end of the season. Northeast excepted, that is.

Kent: First Innings 264 (S J Cook 60 not out, R W T Key 50; J E C Franklin 5 for 30, J Lewis 4 for 50)
Second Innings
S A Northeast not out 128
*R W T Key b Kirby 46
A J Blake c Lewis b Saxelby 0
D I Stevens c Adshead b Marshall 17
J B Hockley c Dawson b Lewis10
J M Kemp b Marshall 1
J C Tredwell c Saxelby b Ireland 8
S J Cook c Adshead b Ireland 0
M T Coles b Kirby 16
A Khan c Ireland b Lewis 29
†G O Jones absent injured 0
Extras (b 4, lb 2, nb 4) 10
Total (9 wkts, 56.3 overs) 265
Fall of wickets: 1-101, 2-106, 3-140, 4-155, 5-158, 6-173, 7-179, 8-222, 9-265.
Bowling: Lewis 12.3-2-45-2; Ireland 16-1-91-2; Kirby 12-1-54-2; Saxelby 5-1-16-1; Marshall 11-2-53-2.

Gloucestershire: First Innings
K Ali lbw b Khan 25
W T S Porterfield lbw b Tredwell 42
H J H Marshall c Jones b Stevens 87
*A P R Gidman c Tredwell b Cook 15
C G Taylor c Jones b Coles 69
J E C Franklin retired out 104
†S J Adshead c Key b Tredwell 114
R K J Dawson c Tredwell b Khan 18
I D Saxelby c Tredwell b Khan 5
J Lewis c Hockley b Tredwell 43
S P Kirby not out 19
A J Ireland lbw b Coles 0
Extras (b 3, lb 1, w 1, nb 6) 11
Total (123.4 overs) 552
Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-136, 3-161, 4-208, 5-295, 6-462, 7-468, 8-512, 9-543.
Bowling: Khan 28-5-120-3; Cook 23-2-97-1; Stevens 10-2-55-1; Kemp 17-3-46-0; Coles 17.4-0-130-2; Tredwell 28-2-100-3.

Umpires: M A Gough and R K Illingworth.