KENT'S new fast bowler David Stiff says he is determined to become a first-team regular and hopefully go on to win Test caps for England.

The 19-year-old Batley-born bowler, who is 6ft 7ins tall, spent eight years of his young life trying to rise through the Yorkshire ranks.

But the England Under-19 paceman says that once opportunities began to dry up he knew it was time to move on.

Stiff, who has signed a three-year deal with Kent, said: "This is my chosen career and I want to go all the way. For the last two or three years or so I've been looking to push on into the Yorkshire first team but is hasn't materialised and other people came from nowhere and got in ahead of me.

"I was going really well with England Under-19s but not making progress with Yorkshire. I wasn't sure why that was but I couldn't see it changing so I decided against a new contract and asked for a move."

With just a handful of county 2nd XI Championship matches behind him, Stiff must have regarded the decision as something of a gamble.

But what he could not have realised is that his burgeoning reputation had already out-stripped his massive frame and within weeks a dozen counties were vying for his signature.

He said: "I was flattered certainly, especially as I had had a side strain that forced me to miss the last third of the summer. It seemed a bit of a non-season in some ways, but as soon as the news got out that I was leaving Yorkshire suddenly everyone was interested.

After much to-ing and fro-ing along the M1, Stiff came up with a shortlist of two, Kent and newly-crowned county champions Sussex and it was Canterbury that got the nod over Hove.

In explaining his decision, Stiff added: "Kent are very keen to go the way of their strong seam attack and back Martin Saggers, Amjad Khan, Mohammad Sami, Alamgir Sheriyar, Ben Trott and the rest.

"Sussex have Mushtaq Ahmed and they'll bowl him for a lot overs at one end and perhaps even prepare pitches more suited to spin.

"I've played at Canterbury once, last April for England Under-19s against Kent 2nd who were then the county champions, and I really liked the place.

"I know it was early season, but there was some pace in the pitch even then, and I'm told the higher up the square you go the quicker the wickets get. It was nice to have the approach from Sussex, but I think as a pace bowler I will have better opportunities with Kent. It was that simple."

Stiff will meet up with his new team-mates for the first time at the end of January. In the first week in February Stiff will fly to Nepal and then on to Bangladesh to contest the junior World Cup with England Under-19s.