Sussex's young batsmen have been challenged to prove they are ready for the demands of the County Championship.

Injuries to Luke Wells and Matt Machan have opened the door for the likes of Harry Finch, Delray Rawlins and Phil Salt to stake their claims for a place in the top order over the next few weeks.

Head coach Mark Davis has confirmed that Wells is doubtful for the opening division two game against Kent at Hove on April 14 having suffered a setback in his recovery from surgery to his left knee over the winter.

Fellow left-hander Machan is definitely out of the Kent clash after experiencing complications following an operation to cure the wrist problem which sidelined him for the second half of last summer.

That double-blow has left a hole which needs to be filled in the top order with Davis keen for the likes of Finch and Rawlins to grasp the opportunity by piling on the runs in pre-season, beginning with today’s clash with Surrey at Hove.

Davis said: “It’s not ideal having Matt and Luke injured at the moment but I think we have got a more rounded squad this season so we will be able to cover for them much better.

“You would always rather have everyone available at this point of the year but it means there is an opportunity for people to come in and stake their claim to be in the team for that first game.

“Delray has had an exceptional winter with England under-19s so it will be very exciting to see how he kicks on. We’ve not had a player do so well at under-19 level before so he has really put himself in the frame.

“It might be too early for him to come into the first team but it also might not be so it will be interesting to see how he does in these pre-season games.

“Harry is an option to open the batting with Chris Nash if Luke doesn’t make the first game. It could be between him and Stiaan (van Zyl) so we’ll just have to monitor how he looks over the next few weeks.”

Van Zyl and fellow South Africans David Wiese and Vernon Philander will not feature against Surrey as they are not due to arrive in England until next week.

Sussex are due to give the rest of their squad – minus IPL-bound Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills – a run-out in the game which will consists of two 90-over innings per team over the course of the three days.

Davis added: “It is very much a practise game so we want to give the bowlers a chance to get some decent spells under their belt and for the batters to get used to English conditions again as a lot of them have been abroad over the winter.”

Play begins at 11.45am today and 11am tomorrow and Saturday. Entry is free.