KENT skipper David Fulton believes the county will go into 2004 a happier, hungrier and fitter squad than ever before.

Though the domestic season is still 20 weeks away, Fulton, his squad and the Canterbury back-room team are busily preparing and hoping for a trophy-winning summer.

He said: "We have held a senior players' meeting to run through pre-season and how I envisage things going. The senior players' group are elected by the playing staff to represent them in management meetings.

"They are players who have been around the block a bit, like Matt Walker, Martin Saggers, Rob Key, Ed Smith and Min Patel. We can't be a democracy because ultimately the buck stops with me as captain, but it's good for me to get player input.

"It's also more likely that the squad will buy into my ideas, having had them accepted first by the senior players' group."

With close-season squad changes, new fitness regimes in place and the likelihood that Kent will start the season with a brace of overseas players, Fulton believes the side will be well prepared for their season's opener on April 16.

He stressed: "I think you will see when we report back for pre-season on March 20 that every player in the squad will have lifted his fitness level a couple of notches.

"That way, we can ensure pre-season will be cricket specific, down to honing techniques and skills, rather than fitness work.

"There is no provision at this time for the squad to go abroad for spring training, but should the weather turn on us then we can swing 'Plan B' into action as we did a couple of years ago.

"I've no doubt that we will go into 2004 a far closer unit than before, we will be hungrier and better prepared than last year.

"As to whether we are stronger, that's hard to say, and perhaps only time will tell.

"We finished 2003 really well, with Murali at his best and the team firing on all cylinders. We would have liked the season to go on for another month or so.

"The trick is to start this season how we finished last, so we hope to have both overseas players in place and are still looking to strengthen and fine-tune the squad.

"There won't be major changes, but we might perhaps bring in one or two fresh faces."