The 43-year-old was due to leave Canterbury at the end of the season after 15 years but could now be handed a new contract
Darren Stevens could yet remain at Kent beyond the end of the season with talks planned over a possible new contract for the veteran allrounder.
The 43-year-old was due to leave Canterbury after 15 years at the club - though he was not considering retirement.
Stevens played for Derbyshire in the T20 Blast but has returned to Kent for the climax of their County Championship campaign.
And he rolled back the years to ensure Kent will remain in Division One for 2020 after victory over relegation-threatened Nottinghamshire.
After scoring 88 in the first innings, Stevens took two five-wicket hauls to finish with match figures of 10-92 as Notts were beaten by 227 runs at Trent Bridge.
Kent are as committed to bringing through young players as any club in the Championship. Against Notts they started with two 21-year-olds in Zak Crawley and debutant Marcus O'Riordan, Ollie Robinson who is 20 and 18-year-old Jordan Cox.
But head coach Matt Walker has not ruled out Stevens staying on beyond the end of the current season.
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"We are allowed to change our minds and we want to reward performance," Walker told BBC Radio Kent. "At the moment Darren's performances are right up there.
"We have to get the balance right - especially at Kent - between still trying to be competitive and win, but also making sure young players are progressing."
He added: "I’m very pleased with how he batted, more than how he bowled. Those runs at that stage of the game were very important.
"He hasn’t batted as well as he would have liked in this format and that was vintage Darren with the bat, which was great to see.
"And with the ball he’s been fantastic for the last few wickets, as he has been for however many years."
Next week sees Kent travel to Yorkshire before what could be Stevens' final appearance for the club against Hampshire.
Posted by Mike Perkins on 13/09/2019 at 17:57
Hopefully common sense will prevail and Darren will be with us again next season we need experience alongside our younger players