KENT'S fledgling Test bowler Mohammad Sami says he'll be doing his very best to lift the club out of the Frizzell County Championship relegation zone (Mark Pennell writes).

The 22-year-old Pakistani firebrand will be making his Championship debut against Essex at Chelmsford on Friday but is only staying with the club for two months.

He said: "Yes, I am only here for a short time, but I will definitely give 100 per cent to my club and I’m sure things will improve."

Sami, arguably the fastest bowler ever to play for Kent, stressed: "Being here will help me get some experiences and to settle into English conditions and I remembered the game I played in Canterbury two years ago and that I liked it here.

"This is only my second time in England, but all the chaps have been very nice and polite to me and I hope I can settle in quickly.

"The biggest difference is the weather. Where I come from is a little bit hot, and although the sun is out here, I’m still finding it cold.

"I have enjoyed playing the 20-over games. It was good fun out there. But certainly the four-day game is better for bowlers and I hope to play a bigger part."

Sami is scheduled to leave Kent on August 18, but well before then the club will lose Andrew Symonds who departs to represent Australia in a one-day series against Bangladesh starting on July 24.

The Queenslander will return in time to play Worcestershire in Canterbury on August 11, but his absence will be another blow to Kent’s hopes of Division 1 survival.

Kent’s director of cricket Ian Brayshaw said negotiations are at an advanced stage to bring in a fourth overseas player this season to act as locum for Symonds and then Sami.

He said: "We’re working feverishly on finding a third party to cover for the last 10 weeks of the season, but this shows how difficult it is getting with the international timetable to get overseas players for any amount of time.

"It was a noble stance to take that we may get through this season with one overseas player and a cameo appearance from a second but, with hindsight and given an unlimited budget, you’d have two cracking good overseas players and compete better.

"Someone like Carl Hooper, who could be available for the whole season, is what we could have done with."

Brayshaw believes Sami will have a huge impact during his short stay and will soon help lift the club out of the doldrums following their Twenty20 Cup exit and a miserable showing of three defeats from five starts.

Brayshaw added: "Having Symonds back has put a buzz into the dressing room and the arrival of Sami has lifted spirits too, so we’ve got some impetus going back into the four-day championship.

"Sami is what we’ve been looking for in terms of finishing sides off and, if we manage him well by not bowling him too hard early, he will come back, clean sides up, and make us a more potent outfit.

"We’ve already had a round the table review of our Twenty20 performances in the dressing room and have to learn from this.

"We tried attacking heavily in the top order batting, but there’s no question it didn’t work apart from the once when one individual (Symonds) got on with their business.

"But there were positives that we can relate to National League cricket in that James Tredwell succeeded as an up-order pinch-hitter and the emergence of Matt Dennington, who’s only a young lad on a development contract, but looks a real talent."