KENT County Cricket Club have secured the services of their second overseas player for 2005 - but his identity looks set to remain a mystery for weeks to come.

The county attracted some criticism for employing five overseas players last season and for 'keeping their powder dry' in terms of their 2003 signings, but Kent chief executive Paul Millman says this year's deals are now cut and dried.

He said: "I am pleased to say we have made good progress in terms of signing a second overseas professional, but for contractual and legal reasons I am not in a position to release his name and won't be able to do so for a few weeks yet.

"I'm keen to get the message out to our members at this stage that we haven't been dragging our feet on this issue and report to them that Graham Johnson and the cricket committee having been working hard to get their man in place.

"We have Andrew Hall for a good chunk of the summer and now the ink is dry on the deal to bring another player here for the whole of the season."