Gloucestershire chief executive has defended his county's attempts to provide Stuart Clark with pre-Ashes practice.

Australian fast bowler Clark, 33, is scheduled to play two LV County Championship matches next month if he can hurry through a visa.

Kent's signing of Clark sparked a furore in March, with England national selector Geoff Miller among those critical of counties allowing Ashes opponents experience of English conditions.

That move was scuppered by Clark's surprise call-up to Australia's one-day squad, after recovering from elbow surgery, but Phillip Hughes has reaped the rewards of a stint with Middlesex to strengthen the ill feeling towards Australians playing here.

However, Tom Richardson on Saturday argued a precedent had been set by Middlesex.

"If we could get him over here for a period of time we would like to do that," Richardson told PA Sport.

"We want to be able to compete and if we didn't do it, someone else would. We are in a situation where it is not a level playing field - either no-one comes over or it is a free-for-all.

"In the final analysis, we want to do the best we possibly can. "That is what county cricket is all about, isn't it?"

New Zealander James Franklin's participation in the World Twenty20 has left Gloucestershire without an overseas player for Championship fixtures against Derbyshire and Middlesex in June.

The 20-over tournament has effectively narrowed the selection pool for overseas fill-ins and Richardson added: "It is about getting the right fit at the right time, it's about availability, there aren't that many people available out there for the period of time we want someone for.

"There are a whole host of reasons why you end up going for a particular cricketer.

"From our point of view we obviously want to win things, we want to bring someone in who creates an impact at the right time of the season.

"The precedent has already been set with Phil Hughes and Middlesex."

Red tape may yet block the move but asked whether he was expecting another backlash given his intentions, Clark said: "I am, actually, but I couldn't care less."

Clark, England's tormentor in the 2006-07 Ashes whitewash, has not played a first-class match since Australia completed a 2-0 Test series victory over New Zealand in Adelaide on December 1, 2008.