KENT have finally moved to strengthen their beleaguered bowling attack by signing Pakistan’s rookie pace bowler Mohammad Sami.

Just 21 and with only nine Test appearances to his name, the willowy right-arm pace bowler will team up with the club on June 22 after this month’s triangular NatWest Challenge series involving England, Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

In the meantime, Greg Blewett will be re-registered for a further three weeks as cover for Sami, allowing Andrew Symonds, who arrived in England on Tuesday morning, to make his season’s championship bow against Sussex in Tunbridge Wells today.

With Amjad Khan and James Hewitt sidelined through injury and Martin Saggers struggling with knee ligament damage, Kent have settled for the perceived firepower of Sami as opposed to bringing in a Test quality all-rounder.

With David Fulton out for another fortnight with a fractured thumb and Rob Key absent on England duty, the county also considered a specialist batsman but with Blewett and Symonds now on board they opted for Sami.

However, his signing on an initial eight-week deal, represents something of a gamble on a relatively unknown player with little experience of English conditions and with just 31 first-class appearances in a fledgling career.

Sami played against Kent’s former overseas star Carl Hooper in Sharjah last year, and Hooper believes the young firebrand from Karachi could well surprise a few.

"He isn’t as quick as the likes of Shane Bond or Brett Lee, but he has got useful pace," said Hooper. "I reckon he’d be up there at around 85 to 88 mile an hour which is often enough to do some damage at county level."

If nothing else, the move is clearly a low cost option for Kent who, after keeping their ‘powder dry’ for the first third of the season, will re-consider their overseas options again at the end of August.