Australia has won the opening tour match of its Ashes campaign by 255 runs against English County side Kent.

The tourists declared overnight at 4-322, leaving the home side 550 for victory on the final day. Kent was bowled out in the final session for 294, despite a defiant knock from young opener Daniel Bell-Drummond.

Earlier, Australia posted a first innings total of 8-507 declared, before bowling Kent out for 280 in their first dig.

Shaun Marsh caused selectors even more headaches, retiring after scoring 101 from 94 balls, after also scoring a century in the first innings.

Clarke (47), Rogers (45) and Watson (81) all spent valuable time in the middle.

Kent then lost three wickets within the first 21 overs on the final day to be 3-100, as Australia looked to round out the match with relative ease. However, 21-year-old Bell-Drummond had other ideas, proving a thorn in Australia's side, as the youngster scored an impressive 127 off just 112 balls.

He unfortunately lost partners around him, as Harmison (31) and Claydon (53) were the only other batsmen to score over 30.

Steve Smith surprisingly took three wickets to finish with figures of 3-54. However, Smith is unlikely to feature heavily in Clarke's bowling plans for the Ashes, with the in-form batsman conceding 9.53 runs per over from his 5.4 overs. Fawad Ahmed and Ryan Harris each got two wickets, while Mitchell Marsh, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson all took one wicket each.

After an impressive start to their campaign, the Australians now prepare for their final tour game against Essex on Wednesday.

See the full scorecard at Cricket.com.au