IN-FORM batsman Ed Smith will have an ideal opportunity to impress the England selectors and promote his claims as a future county skipper when he leads Kent against South Africa in a three-day friendly at Canterbury which begins on Thursday.

Smith, the nation’s leading run-scorer with 1,149 at an average of 60.47, has been picked to stand-in for county captain David Fulton who is to undergo minor eye surgery in hospital the same day.

With places up for grabs in the beleaguered England side, Smith’s purple patch coupled with this opportunity to play the tourists on a flat St Lawrence pitch have arrived with all the immaculate timing of one of Smith’s trademark leg-side clips.

Fulton said: "Ed’s going really well at the moment and England aren’t and this gives him a great chance to pit his skills against theirs and to show what he can do.

"We intend putting out a strong side to make South Africa work hard, but it also gives us an opportunity to help some players back into form and perhaps have a look at a couple of others and gauge their performance against quality opposition.

"It’s also another chance for Rob Key to regain some form and show that he’s not out of his depth in that arena and a chance for Geraint Jones to stake his claims for Alec Stewart’s wicketkeeping job."

Each day’s play at canterbury will start at 10.45am with three, two-hour sessions scheduled for a 5.45pm finish. Admission is £10 for adults and £6 concessions.

While Kent do battle with Graeme Smith’s tourists, Fulton will be is having a tiny plastic tube removed from the right eye he damaged during a freak pre-season training accident.

He said: "It’s a small piece of tubing that was put in during my surgery back in April to help repair the tear duct, it’s time for that to come out now, but it should be a quick job under local anaesthetic and I should be fine for Monday’s National League game."