KENT County Cricket Club have unveiled South Africa's former Test coach Graham Ford as the club's new director of cricket.

The appointment was rubber stamped at Thursday night's general committee meeting and 44-year Ford was introduced to the press on Friday.

In his first interview since agreeing a two-year tenure at St Lawrence, Ford spoke of his delight and excitement at teaming up with Kent.

"The job description covers a broad area encompassing cricket right from junior level through to the main thrust of a successful first team," he said.

"My role is to head up the cricket management team, to assess and evaluate the system in place and to suggest and manipulate a few changes in direction where it's agreed that those changes will be of value to the club.

"Very often in cricket you need only make the slightest twist to a couple of knobs to turn things around completely. I hope to assist from a tactical point of view, contribute toward selection and work on the development of young Kent cricketers to try and make them into players who will make an impact at international level."

Ford, a former batsman and off-spinner for Natal B with a modest playing record of just seven first-class games, won renown for his coaching acumen in guiding Natal to first-class and limited overs’ double in 1997.

In 1999 former Kent legend Bob Woolmer appointed Ford as assistant coach to the South African Test side, but after only a few months Ford was promoted to coach the squad following Woolmer's post-World Cup retirement.

Ford, who is married with two children, coached South Africa on two successful overseas tours and won nine of the 11 series whilst at the helm, yet he was controversially sacked on June 1, 2002 - the day that also marked the death of Ford's former Test skipper, Hansie Cronje.

Since then Ford has set up his own highly-rated cricket academy in Natal and worked as a consultant coach to the Natal Dolphins.

"The thing I've missed most in the last two years is the competitive element of cricket. The excitement of being involved with a team with a common goal to achieve, that's what really attracted me to coming to Kent and this level of cricket.

"Looking back to my role with South Africa I believed the morale of the team was really high and we had a happy side and a record to be proud of, so from that point of view I felt it was a little bit harsh to sack me.

"There was a clash between myself and the convener of selectors, our views on cricket were not similar and it became inevitable that there would be a clash at some point. I don't hold any grudges though, I've moved on from that and I’m really excited about this new role."

Though he has only toured England once and never played league or county cricket here, Ford is thrilled to be involved in championship cricket at last. He admits that he held discussions with two other county clubs before opting for a move to Canterbury.

"If you move in cricket circles in South Africa you will here us talking about the English championship with the same sort of enthusiasm as you talk about Premiership football here.

"We know the teams, the players and personalities and it was talking to a couple of players back home that I got to hear about the vacancy at Kent.

"There's a lot to this job and it's important to me to create a team culture amongst the cricket management here. There's no doubt that the members of the cricket committee have done some thorough work prior to my arrival.

"From my point of view it's exciting to walk in here and see the commitment and passion and a very real desire. Everybody here is keen to achieve, to make sure the first team operates to its full potential and to bring on talented local players as well.

"When a club has an unhappy season, as Kent did in 2004, it's not all gloom and doom providing it's all accepted with the right attitude. It seems as though everybody is determined to address those problems and do the work necessary to ensure such problems don’t re-occur.

"Personally, I love to work hands on with the first team players, but I don't want to stifle the work of the existing staff here. But with this broad job description here I certainly won't be able to throw the whole lot in with the first team and neglect the rest of the factory.

"There will be times when I will work closely with the first team and other times when I will take a step back to consider the broader picture."