Sussex will throw all-rounder David Wiese straight into their Championship side today.

But coach Mark Davis has warned it could take a match or two for the South African to get up to speed.

Wiese returns to the club he served in T20 action as they look to plot a late charge to promotion in the second division of the County Championship.

He practised at Colchester yesterday ahead of the game with Essex and is a certain starter, possibly batting at six.

Wiese has been in the Caribbean and Florida playing T20 cricket but Davis does not believe it will take him too long to adjust to the long format.

The Sussex boss told The Argus: “He is very experienced in both red and white ball and he is an all-rounder.

“It is great to see that he comes back with seven games to go.

“He is very excited to come back and play some four-day cricket for us.

“He will certainly cope with it. He has played a lot of four-day cricket for the Titans.

“The one thing I’d say is he has to get back into it again.

“He hasn’t picked a red ball up since December and he hasn’t batted against the red-ball since December. He will adjust. He has been around.

“He bowled in the nets (yesterday) and he bowled really, really well. It might take him a game or two to settle down but he is a good cricketer.”

Davis believes Wiese’s presence increases his options over four days.

He added: “David gives us good balance and that is what we haven’t had for a while.

“He averages just over 36 with the bat in first-class cricket in South Africa and about 26 with the ball.

“He can bat in the top six and he can bowl.

“That allows you to play an extra batter, an extra seamer or to get a spinner in.

“He bats at six for the Titans in Pretoria and he has a double hundred plus nine first-class hundreds to his name.”

Davis is delighted to forget Sussex’s problems in shorter formats and see what his young side can do in the run-in.

He is putting them under no pressure to push for promotion – but he believes they still have a chance.

He said: “We can draw a line under the white-ball stuff.

“The table doesn’t lie so we were not quite good enough to qualify.

“Certainly in the 50-over competition, we were way off.

“But I think the great thing about this season generally is we have played a lot of young Sussex players.

“That is my intention, to make sure we use our young players and give them an opportunity.

“It will take time but we will lay some foundations and I am sure it can pay dividends in a couple of years.

“We will give it a full go and hopefully we have a late run.

“But ultimately my goal for the season is to turn us into the team we want to be.

“It will take a while to bring people through.

“If it means we have to spend another season in division two getting our young players up to speed, so be it.

“Of course you want to win promotion although sometimes it can be too early.

“But we will see. Jofra Archer is the frame, Stuart Whittingham has bowled well, Harry Finch is going to play a big part for the rest of the season. So it is exciting.”