Pakistan's new fast bowling find Naved-Ul-Hasan is desperate to play county cricket with Sussex.

The 26-year-old issued his 'come and get me' plea in Sydney today after taking three wickets in his second Test appearance against Australia.

Ul-Hasan, who prefers to be called Rana, is one of the options Sussex are considering as they step up the search for a replacement for Mohammad Akram, who joined Surrey in October after just one season at Hove.

He said: "I definitely want to join Sussex this summer and help the team to win matches.

"God willing, everything will be sorted out before too long. There are no problems but my situation has not yet been confirmed.

"My aim is to improve as a cricketer and playing county cricket on English pitches is a good opportunity for me at this stage of my career. Mushtaq Ahmed has played for Sussex for two years and I want to play in the same team as him."

Rana is something of a late developer after only making his Test debut against Sri Lanka in October.

He was a virtual unknown in England until last September when his match-winning spell of 4-25 helped Pakistan overcome arch rivals India in a frantic ICC Champions Trophy match at Edgbaston. He took the prize wickets of Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid.

In Sydney this week Rana removed Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting and Jason Gillespie but could not prevent Australia from completing a 3-0 series whitewash.

It was hard going against a rampant Australian side but the inswinger he produced to remove opener Langer offered evidence of his undoubted ability.

Rana has been a regular in Pakistan's one-day side since making his debut in 2003 and he was leading domestic wicket-taker last season with 42 at 22.02. He has taken nearly 300 first-class wickets and is a useful lower order batsman with a first-class hundred to his name.

With Murray Goodwin hoping to return to Sussex next season as a Kolpak registration, the county should have a vacancy for a second overseas player alongside Mushtaq.

The dilemma for Sussex is that Rana is unproven in English conditions and might not be available until May at the earliest. Pakistan host India in March before travelling to West Indies for a Test and one-day series which does not end until mid-May.

Before then Rana is expected to play a key role for Pakistan in the one-day tri-nations series against the hosts Australia and the West Indies, starting in Melbourne on Friday.

Director of cricket Peter Moores said: "From what we've seen of him, he looks the sort of bowler who could do well in English conditions.

"But before anything happens we have to sort out Murray's situation first. Once that happens things should fall into place quite quickly and we should know more about Rana's availability.

"He'd like to come because of Mushtaq as much as anything, but I think it's probably going to be another month before anything is finalised."