KENT will fight tooth and nail to keep Graham Ford as the county's director of cricket despite granting the 46-year-old permission to speak with India over their Test side's coaching vacancy.

Ford signed a new two-year deal during the close season that would seemingly keep him at St Lawrence until the end of 2008.

Yet the lure of coaching Indian stars like Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, has proved too strong and Ford has asked for Kent's blessings to travel to India for an interview.

Director of cricket at Middlesex and former England spin bowler, John Emburey, is the other front runner for the job, but Ford's quiet approach and international coaching experience – he led South Africa to nine Test series wins out of 11 between 1999 and 2001 – make him the short-priced favourite.

Kent chief executive Paul Millman said: "The India job is one of most attractive in the world and if someone expresses an interest then it would be very tough to stand in their way. So we have said to Graham, go out and have a look.

"But we are going to do everything within our power to keep him at Kent. We are quite unhappy about the timing of this approach."

As for Ford, he admits to being flattered by the approach and wants to know more.

He said: "Anyone involved in cricket at my level would be interested in the job and although I was caught completely off guard it was a wonderful compliment to be asked.

"I have kept the authorities at Kent in the loop and I'm grateful to them for giving me the chance to find out what the job is all about."