Sussex today strengthened their bowling attack by signing Australian-born left-armer Jason Voros.

The 26-year-old has Hungarian parents and becomes English qualified on May 1 next year when Hungary are due to join the EU.

Voros was all set to join Sussex in 2001 but the day before he was due to sign it was discovered that his ancestory visa did not qualify him to play professional sport in England.

That summer he took over 30 second team wickets and bagged another 14 in four games last year in between a stint with Hull in the Yorkshire League for whom he took 47 wickets and scored six half-centuries.

Now he is determined to make the most of his second chance after agreeing a one-year contract.

He said: "If you are going to play county cricket you might as well join the best and I'm really looking forward to the challenge.

"I cannot play until May 1 so I might start the season as reserve but director of cricket Peter Moores has told me there will be opportunities especially if I am knocking guys over in the warm-up matches."

Voros had a part-time scholarship at the Australian Cricket Academy and played six matches for Canberra Comets in 1999 when his team-mates included Sussex skipper Chris Adams.

He then moved to Queensland but was left out on a limb when from back page John Buchanan left to coach Australia and his replacement, Bennett King, did not rate Voros.

Sussex coach Mark Robinson plays for Hull and monitored his progress last season when other counties, including Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Middlesex, expressed an interest in signing him.

But Voros says there was never any doubt that he would end up at Hove.

"My father always told me never burn your bridges, it was always going to be Sussex.

"They are such a tight-knit group and I know a lot of the players already. In fact the only one I don't really know is Mushtaq Ahmed.

"I'm 26 and think I've got six or seven years left in me. This is my last opportunity to perform at the highest level and I'm determined to make the most of it. I think I can take wickets on a consistent basis at first-class level."

Sussex expect to sign former Pakistan Test bowler Mohammad Akram before the end of the year while negotiations with Murray Goodwin about a return to Hove for a fourth season remain ongoing.

Meanwhile, there will be no county cricket at Eastbourne next year after the Saffrons club rejected Sussex's offer to host a one-day game against Sri Lanka A on July 12.

The county wanted to charge a £5,000 fee but the Saffrons' authorities were worried that they would not make it pay as the game is on a Monday, the low marketing appeal of the opposition and the likelihood that Sussex would field a weakened team in the middle of a hectic period of one-day cricket.

Andrew Price, chairman of the Saffrons Sports Club, said: "In the last two years we have worked hard to clear our losses and are now making a profit.

"We weren't prepared to jeopardise that.

"We felt, even with heavy reliance from the corporate sector which isn't guaranteed, that at best we would break even."

Saffrons' authorities re-laid the square after the county stopped playing at Eastbourne in 2000 when the Championship match against Northamptonshire lasted less than seven sessions. Concerns were also expressed about the state of the dressing rooms and catering facilities.

Eastbourne still hope to stage a county cricket festival again and Sussex are unlikely to hold the decision not to host a game next year against them when they future discussions take place.

Agreement is still not in place with the authorities at Horsham over their annual cricket week although chief executive Hugh Griffiths said it was '90 per cent certain' that the Championship and one-day games against Warwickshire and Leicestershire respectively would take place there at the end of May.