TOM Moody has insisted he has "no problem" with Andrew Hall's move to Kent.

The South African all-rounder has signed a deal with the Canterbury club after Worcestershire decided against retaining the 29-year-old.

Hall has been at New Road for the past two seasons as one of the County's overseas players.

Moody is still finalising the deal to bring in his second foreign star for 2005, following his swoop for Shoaib Akhtar, but hinted that his new signing will be a stronger batsman than Hall at county level.

"I've got no problem with Andrew Hall going to Kent," said Moody, Worcestershire's director of cricket.

"We wish him all the best. One of the reasons we hesitated slightly with him was that we're looking at an all-rounder that's just a little bit stronger on the batting suit than Andrew.

"Over the past two seasons in country cricket, he's struggled to hold down a top six position because the nature of the wickets exposed his technique a little.

"We're looking for somebody who can give us some stability in that top order, particularly if we're going to be losing someone like Vikram Solanki for the odd one-day game."

Moody, though, laughed off the suggestion that he could now swoop for Kent's former overseas player Andrew Symonds.

"We would be interested in Andrew Symonds but we're not in a position to put all our eggs in one basket," added Moody."It's a balancing act because this year, financially, it's a tough one for all counties."

County clubs are counting the cost of England's no-show against Zimbabwe in the 2003 World Cup. The counties won't receive a £70,000 payment from the ECB this season as a direct effect of England's boycott of their Zimbabwe clash last year. The ECB have been forced to cut costs by £4m.