Kent star Fabian Cowdrey says it was a privilege to captain Australian great Michael Clarke during a productive spell Down Under this winter.

The 23-year-old, who made his county debut in 2013, spent five months in Sydney playing for Western Suburbs.

Cowdrey was handed the captaincy during his stay, allowing him the opportunity to skipper former Australia batsman Michael Clarke who made a rare appearance for the club.

“It was a pretty crazy situation to find myself in,” Cowdrey said.

“He was great while he was with us - he’s a good man and he helped everyone. Considering his profile he could have been different but he wasn’t.

“As soon as he came in he was just another guy in the dressing room, it was a privilege to play alongside him.”

Clarke, 34, scored over 8,500 Test runs during an international career which spanned more than a decade.

The batsman, 20th in the list of all-time run-scorers, bowed out of international cricket last summer with his final match against England at the Oval.

Cowdrey revealed he spent some time with the prolific veteran and said his knowledge of the game was evident.

“It was a great opportunity to pick his brains,” he said.

News Shopper:

“We spoke about the game, about batting and captaincy - he was just very helpful, insightful and modest.

“This is a man who has played over 100 Tests and you could tell that because he spoke about the game with passion and knowledge.”

Cowdrey spent some valuable time in the middle while in Australia and scored four consecutive fifties for Western Suburbs after Christmas.

The young star hopes to take that form into the English summer.

“I went really well in the New Year and it was great to find a bit of form ahead of our season. I felt good and hopefully I can bring that into the summer for Kent,” Cowdrey added.

“I really enjoyed my time out in Australia and being handed the captaincy topped off the experience - I learned a lot about my game.

“I enjoyed the extra responsibility and found that I focussed a bit more with the captaincy.

“It also meant I spent less time worrying about my own game because I had to concentrate on the situation and that helped.”

Kent's Specsavers County Championship season starts on April 10 with a trip to Worcestershire, while the Spitfires’ one-day campaign begins in May with a NatWest T20 Blast clash against Somerset.

Kent return to the County Ground, Beckenham on June 3 and 5 with one-day games against Gloucestershire and Surrey. Tickets are now available here.

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt