James Kirtley is in line to make his first Championship appearance since last May against Surrey tomorrow.

The 33-year-old made a successful return to competitive action with two wickets in Sunday's one-day defeat to Essex.

And as well as the experience Kirtley would bring to Sussex's bowling attack, there is another reason why his presence can make a difference - he knows how to get Mark Ramprakash out.

Surrey have one of the strongest top orders in the country and it has been improved further this year by the arrival of Usman Afzaal, who played three Tests for England but is regarded as one of the great unfulfilled talents of the county game.

But it is Ramprakash's wicket which is prized above all others which is no surprise given his phenomenal record against Sussex, both for Surrey and his previous county Middlesex.

Ramprakash made his first appearance against Sussex as a 17-year-old in 1987, scoring 24 and 38.

Since then he has lodged 2,183 Championship runs against the county at an average of 60.53 and eight of his 98 first-class hundreds have come against Sussex.

His record for Surrey, whom he joined in 2000, is even better.

He needs just 43 more runs to complete 1,000 against the county and he averages 74.

That Surrey aggregate of 957 runs in 15 innings including two hundreds and last season's unbeaten 266 at Hove, when Ramprakash and Mark Butcher put on 403, a new third-wicket record against the county.

Kirtley bowled 27 wicketless overs in that game and it turned out to be his last Championship appearance of the season as Sussex then permed Jason Lewry and Rana Naved as their new-ball attack.

But of the bowlers likely to be on duty tomorrow, Kirtley has dismissed Ramprakash five times. Jason Lewry has got him out four times and Robin Martin-Jenkins three. Surprisingly, Mushtaq Ahmed has only dismissed him once.

Sussex are meticulous in their preparations for opposition players and coach Mark Robinson will have plans for Ramprakash.

But he will also make sure that his bowlers think as much about getting Surrey's other batsmen out as they do Ramprakash.

He said: "Ramps is a fine player, everyone knows that. But it only takes one mistake, one error of judgement by him and he's history."

Sussex are anxious to get their first win after starting their Championship defence with two rain-affected draws and, as well as Kirtley, Robinson is hoping to have Jason Lewry available as well.

The veteran left-armer has only sent down five competitive overs this season because of a knee injury, but after bowling every day last week Robinson says he is "90 per cent fit."

He added: "The only thing that Jason is missing is overs in the middle in a competitive match. He will have a fitness test today and even 90 per cent fit he is going to be a handful for any side.

"I was pleased with how James did on Sunday. He's very experienced, of course, but he would have been nervous after his operation but he is definitely an option for Surrey."

Skipper Chris Adams used his two inexperienced seamers Chris Liddle and Rageb Aga sparingly against Kent last week, bowling 21 overs between them in both innings.

Robinson added: "We carry blokes - not youngsters - and they will have learned that if they don't get it right in their first three or four overs that could be it.

"In an ideal world we would have one young bowler less in the attack at the moment - and I include Luke Wright as a young bowler."

The county's search for a replacement for Ryan Harris is ongoing. "We are still looking," said Robinson. "Nothing has changed since before the Kent game. We are aware that there is a lack of depth in the seam bowling, but I knew that already."