Bell-Drummond stays grounded as he pursues the dream

As Rob Key packed up his pads, zipped up his kitbag and drove out of the St Lawrence Ground for one final time, an 18-year era was over. There would be no more booming Key cover drives, no whistling at fielders, no hiding himself at mid-on. The one-club man had called it a day. The top order would never be the same again.

Team-mates called for his No. 4 shirt to be retired but Key's message was clear. This is not about him, it's about the future. "It's time for the younger players to have their chance," he said. And with one knowing glance at his opening partner Daniel Bell-Drummond, Key walked into the sunset.

Except there is no sunset, at least not now. Instead there is punditry and Key has already tried his hand at making bold predictions. Three years ago he told me a then-teenage Bell-Drummond could play 100 Tests for England. No pressure, then.

It's been a slow burner - Bell-Drummond initially struggled to fulfil his England Under-19 promise - but the boy is starting to come good. A century off 92 balls against an Australia attack including Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris before the Ashes last year left Michael Vaughan impressed. He too joined the DBD fan club, tipping the opener to play in the 2017-18 Ashes.

Bell-Drummond smiles, almost sheepishly, at the mention of it. He's not star-struck, he's just deeply respectful. "For Michael Vaughan to say that is great," he says. "When people say they rate you, you have to enjoy it."

At the mention of working with some of the high-profile England Lions coaches over the winter, DBD is similarly full of admiration. "To learn from the likes of [Graham] Thorpe and Andy Flower, ex world-class internationals, it was surreal," he says, "but you have to snap out of it because you're there for a reason. It's the same at Kent, too, with Jimmy Adams as coach and going out opening the batting with Rob Key. He's a guy I watched as a kid then I became a team-mate, so it comes about everywhere. It's about snapping out of it as quickly as possible."

But he's on the England radar in his own right. The precocious young talent, the highest run-scorer for England in youth ODIs, is fulfilling his ample promise. As a seven-year-old, Bell-Drummond hit a century for Kent Under-10s, before playing for England U-15s, U-17s and U-19s while at Millfield School. This is a guy born to play cricket, a young man in love with the game. "If I could buy runs …" he at one point grins. No doubt he'd use every penny he had.

This season, however, he hasn't needed to. The wallet can stay very much in his back pocket. Bell-Drummond made an unbeaten double century against the Loughborough students in his first outing of the season. In the second, he struck 124 in Kent's first County Championship outing of the post-Key era against Leicestershire - an innings full of quick-wristed flicks and ferocious drives. There are few batsmen in the country in better form. And with spots to play for in England's Test batting line-up, there is no better time to be in better form.

"Everyone has a dream of playing for their country," he says. "I guess you always have that [England] in the back of your mind. It's human nature to see what's ahead and what could be but I don't want to look too far forward. I've done that before. I looked too far ahead and suddenly things didn't go to plan and it's back to square one."

That arguably happened in the summer of 2013, Bell-Drummond's first as a regular first-team selection. After opening his season with his maiden first-class hundred, 102 not out against Cardiff MCCU in April, he was restricted to a further 466 runs at 23.30 in 13 Championship matches.

"I made a lot of runs at Under-19 level for England. I did well and thought I'd come into first-class cricket and really push on," he said. "But I found the transition hard, especially with some of the wickets we get as an opening batsman in Division Two. As an opening batsman, that was the hardest bit.

"I realised I needed to learn county cricket more and learn how to play every day against different types of bowling. Some people, like Joe Root and Alastair Cook, bypass that but they're pretty special. Finding consistency can be pretty tough."

Bell-Drummond recounts one particular incident to sum it up. A week after crashing a ton against the Aussies last summer, he scored just 7 and 5 against Leicestershire in a game over in two-and-a-bit days.

He explains: "I made the century against Australia and to an extent I realised then that I was good enough. Then the next game we played Leicester on a green seamer and I didn't make any runs. I could face Ryan Harris well enough, then against Leicester I'm missing some of the balls by a foot. In county cricket you need to be consistent. Of course I want to fulfil dreams but ultimately it's down to me and my performances."

It makes the hundred at Grace Road this week all the more rewarding. As the runs come, performances will earn high praise - not that he'd know it. Vaughan's words, for example, only came to his attention thanks to a mate. "I only find out what people are saying about me when a friend or someone in my family says about it and texts me a link," he says. "Sometimes I read them but I'm starting to stop to be honest. I did give them a read when I was a bit younger but it's good to stay away."

He doesn't crave the limelight but knows it could one day come - just like it's done for his pal Sam Billings, another graduate of Kent's academy. In 12 whirlwind months he's gone from Kent to playing for England, to the Pakistan Super League to the Indian Premier League. Earlier this month he even took the field during the T20 World Cup final. Dreams can happen.

"Seeing Sam do that does give me confidence, of course," Bell-Drummond says. "He did well for the England Lions and then look where is now."

The new Robert Key? Not quite. At a team meal last season he watched his team-mates all order burgers, before getting pasta himself. Now he wants to taste the international game.