Last season's Twenty20 Cup final hat-trick hero Ryan McLaren will make his Kent debut for 2008 in Canterbury this weekend when the county take on the Leeds/ Bradford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence.

The three-day friendly, Kent’s first official fixture of the summer, will give McLaren an ideal low key re-introduction to county cricket following his winter exertions with his South African club side the Diamond Eagles.

McLaren flew into England on Monday night while his new team-mate, former Surrey and Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood, jetted in Tuesday evening following his Indian Cricket League commitments and has yet to decide if he will line up against the students.

James Tredwell, who is playing for the MCC against the champion county Sussex at Lord’s, will also miss out and Amjad Khan (hamstring) and Robbie Joseph (bruised heel) are also unlikely to feature.

Overseas professional Yasir Arafat, who is still at home in Rawalpindi, will find out on Saturday if he has been selected in Pakistan’s latest one-day international squad.

If the former Sussex all-rounder is overlooked, he will travel to the UK on Sunday having been provisionally booked onto a flight by Kent, and may yet feature in Wednesday’s LV Championship opener against newly promoted Nottinghamshire at St Lawrence.

Likewise, South African Justin Kemp, Kent’s potential third Kolpak signing for the summer, could fly in from his Cape Town home if his player registration appeal to the ECB is successful and would help give Kent a powerful starting line-up for the start of their four-day campaign.