Record-breaker Christian Davis has been urged to grab his second chance to cut it as a professional cricketer.

Davis is set to make his County Championship debut when Sussex take on Gloucestershire at Hove today – six years after bursting onto the scene as a 17-year-old with Northamptonshire.

The former England under-19 international played four one-day games for Northants over the space of three years before quitting to go to Leeds/Bradford university to study economics and geography.

He caught Sussex coach Mark Davis’s eye when he scored 65 for Leeds/Bradford at Hove in April and was invited for a trial. The all-rounder hit a record 258 not out for the 2nd XI against Glamorgan at Abergavenny last month to convince Davis he is ready to fill the gap left in Sussex’s top order by an injury to Harry Finch.

Mark Davis said: “We could see Christian had something about him when he played against us at the start of the season.

“We wanted to keep an eye on him so we got him in the second team and told him to show he deserves another chance.

“He has certainly done that by breaking the all-time record for the second team and making another century as well so he deserves this opportunity.

“He’s a good age at 23 and already has experience of playing county cricket so I’m confident he will rise to the challenge.

“I think the fact he has had a taste of county cricket before and come back for another go after university will stand him in good stead. He knows what it is all about and will not be overawed by anything.

“In the past we have perhaps been guilty of not giving young players like Christian a go but this year we have been almost forced to due to injuries and the fact we don’t have a budget to bring people in on loan.

“Already we have seen the likes of George Garton, Stuart Whittingham, Harry Finch and Jofra Archer make an impact and hopefully Christian can do the same.”

Davis will hope to improve on his debut for Sussex when he was dismissed for a duck and returned figures of 1-25 in the Royal London One-Day Cup defeat to Kent last week.

His chance comes at the expense of Finch who had an operation to set a broken thumb on Monday and is likely to miss the remainder of the season.

Mark Davis added: “It’s a great shame for Harry because he had started to show some really good form but it gives somebody like Christian a chance.”

Sussex go into today’s clash with Gloucestershire 41 points adrift of division two leaders Essex having won just once all season but Davis insists they are still capable of mounting a late push for the title.

“There are six games to go so there is a lot of cricket to be played still,” added Davis. “We have got a game in hand on most of the teams above us and two on some so if we string a run of wins together we’ll certainly be up there challenging.

“Obviously we would like to win a few more games but to get to this stage of the season unbeaten is a good achievement and shows the character of the team. We are starting to develop into a good side and if we can turn a few draws into wins then who knows?”

Whittingham – who signed a new two-year contract this week -– misses out today due to a back problem but Garton, pictured left, returns having been sidelined by sore shins since impressing for England Lions last month.

Batsman Matt Mahan is ruled out with a wrist injury but England all-rounder Chris Jordan – who made his maiden first class century in the last game at Essex – is available.

Sussex squad: Archer, Briggs, Brown, Davis, Garton, Jordan, Joyce, Magoffin, Nash, Wells, Wiese, Wright.