FORMER Kent star Carl Hooper is back from overseas and returns to St Lawrence for possibly the final time on Friday when the county take on Lancashire in a four-day Frizzell Championship match.

The deposed West Indies skipper has signed for the Red Rose county as five-week locum for injured Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh and will line up against the club he served from 1992 to 1998.

Hooper, the most stylish and elegant of players, is the only batsman to average over 50 for Kent, having scored 6,714 runs for the club in 85 first class games. His average was 50.48.

In addition the Guyanan all-rounder made 121 catches and took 154 wickets at a cost of 34 apiece – the sort of significant all-round contribution Kent could well do with this season.

However, Kent’s job this time around will be to prevent Hooper from taking wickets and scoring runs as they bid to claim their first win of the campaign and lift themselves out of the relegation zone.

The hosts will give fitness tests to leading paceman Martin Saggers, who has been struggling to shake off a persistent knee strain, and will have Rob Key available again ahead of the second Test at Chester-le-Street.