Sharks hunt down Smith

10 June 2008

Dwayne Smith will play as an overseas player for Sussex © Getty Images

Sussex have boosted their ranks for the Twenty20 Cup by signing West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Smith as a replacement for injured star Mushtaq Ahmed.

Ahmed damaged a ligament in his right knee in the nets last week and is due miss the whole of the group stage.

Smith, who will feature as an overseas player, will fill the void left by Luke Wright’s call-up to the England one-day squad to face New Zealand.

The 25-year-old has played in 10 tests and 71 ODIs and has just completed a successful stint in the Indian Premier League for Mumbai Indians

Professional cricket manager Mark Robinson said: “We are excited to have Dwayne join us. We’ve had to move quickly on this following injury to Mushy and at a day’s notice I feel very lucky to have gained such a high quality player.

“Dwayne impressed in the World Cup last year playing for the West Indies and is also a team mate of Corey Collymore in Barbados so we’ve been able to gain a good inside knowledge of him.

“The fact that he bats, bowls and fields means he will, in theory, be a like for like replacement for Luke when he joins England.”