Kent County Cricket Club chiefs are hoping to hear tonight (Wednesday) if former South African Test all-rounder Justin Kemp will be cleared to play for them this summer.

A disciplinary hearing before the full management board of the England and Wales Cricket Board is due to pass judgement on Kent’s appeal against the board’s decision not to grant Kemp’s player registration.

Kemp was one of five county cricketers to be overlooked for ECB registration last month following his decision to sign for the Hyderabad Heroes Indian Cricket League franchise.

The player has now completed his commitments in India and returned home to Cape Town where he awaits the Board’s decision, but he and Kent believe their case is a strong one.

Confirming the club’s stance to back Kemp to the full, Kent’s chief executive Paul Millman said: “If, for any reason whatsoever, we should lose at this hearing there is a further appeal process in place and we would go down that route if need be, simply because we feel confident of the strength of our position.

“We would be happy to take our documentation before an appeal panel and take this to the next stage because these issues surrounding the ICL have all arisen long since Justin decided to sign for us as a Kolpak player.”

In confirming that Kemp, Kent’s overseas player in 2005, first signed a letter of intent to re-join the county on Kolpak terms as long ago as September 2006, Mr Millman added: “We know this is a difficult decision for the ECB to make because they have to look at a whole range of individual cases and, if I’m honest, I have no idea if we will be successful.

“But what I can say is that Kent and Justin Kemp have approached this appeal with absolute integrity and we believe our case is strong because of that.

“Justin’s decision to join Kent dates back to late 2006 and on the rules and regulations that applied at that time. Long-term decisions have had to be made since, still based on those regulations, and if we were we able to put the clock back now then maybe we wouldn’t have made some of those choices, but things have moved very fast in the world of cricket recently.

“We like to do things the right way here at Kent and we don’t look to be confrontational, but the game has changed significantly in the past 18 months since the arrival of the Indian cricket leagues, all of which is out of Kent’s control."