Adam Hollioake’s doubts fuel Kent’s promotion push after dramatic turnaround

Hollioake admits coaching doubts as Kent close in on promotion

Adam Hollioake has revealed that he questioned whether coaching was right for him during the early stages of his first season in charge of Kent. A year after the county finished bottom of County Championship Division Two, Kent now control their promotion prospects heading into the final round of fixtures.

Kent occupy the second promotion place and hold a four-point advantage over Northamptonshire. They will secure a return to the top flight if they match or better Northamptonshire’s result in the final round, with bottom side Gloucestershire visiting Canterbury while Northamptonshire travel to Middlesex.

The potential promotion would mark a remarkable reversal for a team that won only two of 14 Championship matches last season and was widely regarded as the country’s weakest red-ball side. Kent were relegated in 2024 under Matthew Walker before Hollioake replaced him in 2025.

“There was a time at the beginning of the year when I was questioning whether coaching was actually the right thing for me,” Hollioake told BBC Radio Kent.

Hollioake said self-doubt was unavoidable but insisted that resilience and a refusal to lower standards helped him and the squad move through the difficult period.

“I just demanded we keep those standards high and keep coming back to them and I kept on trying to reassure the guys it would turn around,” he said.

Kent have won seven of their 13 matches this season and have already collected 78 more points than they managed during the previous campaign. Hollioake attributes the improvement to a straightforward approach: taking each match individually and repeatedly returning to a clear plan, regardless of what happened in the previous game.

That method was tested when Kent lost to Derbyshire, but they responded with a seven-wicket victory over Lancashire. Hollioake said the result had left him “pretty confident” that his side would perform well against Gloucestershire.

“All we can do is just keep executing the plans that we've been executing since the fourth week of the season and keep going back and trying to stick to that template,” Hollioake said.

With Northamptonshire’s result and the weather outside their control, Kent’s task is clear: produce another disciplined performance at home and let the promotion consequences follow.