LONDON: Kent are confident new assistant coach Allan Donald will be able to join the English county ahead of the forthcoming season despite reports the South Africa legend is struggling to obtain a visa.

Donald was appointed assistant to new head coach Matt Walker in January but a report in The Times suggested the former fast bowler was facing a delay in obtaining the necessary paperwork as he did not hold the right coaching qualifications.

However, Kent hope to resolve the situation and have Donald on board before their players report back for pre-season training.

“He hasn’t been denied a visa, we’re waiting on an application,” a Kent spokesman said.

“It’s a case of which visa he’s entitled to. The ECB has guidelines as to which qualifications you should hold, if that’s for a head coach or an assistant coach -- he won’t be here year round, only for the domestic season.

“He’s got a British wife so he could get a spousal visa, or he could do some media work and get a visa that way. We’re pretty relaxed about it. The application can take several weeks or even months if there are complications. We’ve a good amount of staff anyway — there are other bowling staff to work with the players — so it’s not like it will leave a massive hole in the staff anyway but we’d like to get him over to share his knowledge with the squad,” the Kent spokesman added.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2017