Sussex has signed Australia's top batter Steve Smith on a short-term contract for three County Championship matches ahead of the 2023 Men's Ashes, which will begin on June 16 in Birmingham.
Smith will be available for selection for Sussex's trips to Worcestershire (May 4) and Leicestershire (May 11), as well as a home game against his Australian teammate Marnus Labuschagne's Glamorgan on May 18.
Smith will be teammates with India's veteran top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara at Sussex, who had previously agreed to return in October 2022 for the 2023 season.
"I'm looking forward to joining Sussex for a few games in May and hopefully contributing to a successful season. I'm especially excited to work with the squad's younger players and hope to provide some guidance to them "Smith stated in a press release.
Smith made his international Test debut in 2010 and went on to become Australia's 45th Test captain in 2015, succeeding Michael Clarke. The extra responsibility of captaincy had no effect on his ability to score runs, as he scored six centuries in his first eight Tests as captain, propelling him to the top of the ICC Men's Test Batting rankings.
He has since played 92 Tests for Australia, scoring 8647 runs at an outstanding average of 60.89, including 37 half-centuries and 30 centuries. Smith currently ranks second in the ICC Men's Test Batting rankings and second in the ICC All-Time Test Rankings, trailing only the legendary Australian batter Don Bradman.
Sussex Cricket CEO Rob Andrew expressed delight at bringing in a batter of Smith's calibre, albeit for a limited time.
"Steve Smith will be available for our County Championship matches in May. Having arguably the best batter in the world play for Sussex just before the highly anticipated Ashes Test series is fantastic for us and the County Championship "Andrew stated.
"Our Championship form has been lacking for several years, and under the new leadership of head coach Paul Farbrace, we hope to be more positive and ambitious. Attracting a player of Steve Smith's calibre is a huge statement that will benefit our young homegrown players, particularly our crop of talented young batters "He went on to say.
Following the news of West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales' long-term knee injury, Sussex said they are still looking for an overseas bowler for the upcoming County Championship season.