IMRAN Tahir produced a fantastic performance for us on his debut against Lancashire last week.

Although a lot of people had not heard much about him, he does have a good record, so it wasn't a gamble.

He has been playing league cricket for Moddershall in Staffordshire, so he wasn't coming in cold, which helps.

As a leg spinner, it is difficult to go straight back in if you have not been playing at all, but Imran didn't have that problem.

What people should also know about Imran is that he is one of the loveliest blokes you could ever wish to meet.

He is a very respectful person and was very grateful for the opportunity.

We have a very good atmosphere in the changing room at Hampshire and Imran has slotted in very well.

He is exactly the kind of guy you want in there.

It is a real testament to the guy that, after the game, he requested to go and play for his league club the next day, because he almost felt he had let them down a bit by playing for us.

It was an outstanding performance he produced against Lancashire, who almost shot themselves in the foot.

They knew Greg Lamb was injured and Liam Dawson was playing for the under-19s, so they created a dust bowl, but didn't figure about Imran.

To take 12 wickets was sensational, but it would be dangerous for anyone to get too excited.

We are not going to have the same conditions down at Kent and they are an excellent batting side.

But Imran will take a lot of pressure off guys like Dimi, who has been bowling a lot of overs.

He bowled more than 30 overs in both innings and that is absolute gold.

But we have got to be careful not to put too much pressure on him.

Looking at the game as a whole, we were disappointed to only get a draw.

We let ourselves down in the first session of the game, when we let them get to 130 or 140-1.

We lost that session, which is why we couldn't go on and win the game.

But we more than matched them for the rest of the game, and it just shows what we are capable of as a team. They are a top team with a lot of superstars, but we were with them blow for blow throughout.