Kent bowler Matt Milnes says an early-season pep talk from head coach Adam Hollioake was behind their promotion-winning campaign.

After losing to Worcestershire by an innings and two runs in their third Division Two match in April, Kent then won eight of the next 11 to clinch second spot.

“Smokes [Hollioake] took the pressure off us and said, ‘just enjoy yourselves’,” Milnes told BBC Radio Kent.

“Everyone was expecting a bit of a slap on the wrist for how we’d been performing at the start of the year, but he went the other way.

“I think it was an amazing bit of man management and everyone responded really well to it.”

Milnes returned to Kent for the 2026 campaign after an injury-hit spell at Yorkshire, where a series of back injuries restricted his appearances.

But the 32-year-old missed only two of Kent’s Championship games in 2026, and took 54 wickets at an average of 20.03, making him the division’s fifth most prolific bowler.

“There were a few times in the season [where] I thought I was going to break but thankfully the backroom staff have been very understanding,” Milnes said.

“They’ve listened to my body, which is something as a bowler you don’t always have. I’m also a bit more experienced with it as well.

“I’ve played probably more cricket this year than I have in three or four years, so I’m delighted with that, let alone the success we’ve had as a team this year.”

Milnes is excited to see where the team can go from here, and says fighting for top-flight honours is their eventual target.

“It’s the pinnacle of county cricket, isn’t it? I think that’s where you want to be,” he said.

“When you talk about winning competitions, for me, Division One champions is the pinnacle.

“So next year [is] a year of consolidation, hopefully, and then you can start looking upwards.

“The way we’ve performed, I think there’s no reason why we can’t get some wins on the board in Division One and put some very good teams under pressure at times.”