Kent's professional cricket manager Simon Willis says returning to Division 1 of the County Championship is the club’s biggest challenge this summer.

Kent were relegated to Division 2 for the first time last year and Willis wants to make a swift return.

Alongside that he remains keen to ensure they continue their good one-day record of recent years.

He said: "This year there are a number of new challenges for all of us. I suppose the biggest challenge is to return to Division 1 as quickly as we can.

"It’s certainly been a heavy focus of our preparation, but at the same time we’re not forgetting we are a decent one-day outfit.

"Over the last two years probably us and Essex have been the most consistent, and we have got to maintain our level in that form of the game as well."

Kent's pre-season preparations have been hampered by director of cricket Graham Ford, and players such as Justin Kemp, being delayed getting back into the country by new visa requirements.

"It has left us a little bit thin so we probably haven’t covered as much as we would normally have done at this time," admitted Willis. "On the flip side we have had a lot of guys playing cricket overseas during the winter so it is not as though they have been doing nothing."

Willis described the 2008 season as a ‘fantastic journey' and although disappointed to see the side fail to lift silverware in two cup finals, he still looks back on it as an enjoyable period. However, he admits championship relegation hit everyone hard.

"To get relegated from the Championship was disappointing and it hurt a lot for all of us," he said.

"On reflection we probably should have rested a few people for the Pro40 to allow us a bit more focus in the Championship games.

"But the players wanted to win silverware and they were desperate to play. It is very hard to tell guys that we are going to take a back seat in this competition when they were so eager to put right what went wrong (losing two cup finals)."

Willis felt that as Kent challenged on so many different fronts their squad became stretched.

He said: "As a smaller club, compared to the Test match grounds, we haven’t got the resources some others have got.

"One of the things we did was to keep the quality of players high which meant we could only have a small staff.

"We could have gone the other route and had 25 players but of less quality, and then you might not have got to the finals.

"It is a balancing act and probably it did take its toll in the end. I can’t knock the effort of any of the players, they gave 100 per cent even if the bodies weren’t willing."