Mark Davis believes Stiaan van Zyl was under-bowled back in South Africa.

Stand-in Sussex skipper Chris Nash sees him as a steadying Ed Joyce type run-maker.

Either way, the former international hired as a senior top-order batsman is starting to stamp his mark on the Championship push.

Not as an all-rounder by any means but certainly as someone who can make a multi-faceted contribution.

Sussex are talking about an all-round team effort as they look for the wins needed to bridge the gap to the second division pacesetters.

The Argus:

Van Zyl epitomised that in the innings win over previously unstoppable Worcestershire which followed injury to strike bowler Steve Magoffin, the change in captaincy and, before that, confirmation that Joyce would no longer be around.

Asked about that comparison with Joyce, Nash explained: “I think it’s the calmness with which he bats.

“When he walks out he is a very calm, relaxed character and Joycey gave us that as well.

“It’s that permanence. If he gets in, he is going to get big runs and I think his record proves that.

“It fills that role of an experienced player. You are not putting in a young player hoping to fill Ed Joyce’s boots.

“You are putting in a player with 12 Tests under his belt.

“Add his bowling, he is a fantastic fielder as well, he is a top lad.

“It is going to be very difficult to replace Ed but we are going in the right direction.”

Van Zyl scored a classy 54 in the first innings which saw Sussex take control of the contest.

Then, with Worcestershire 215-0 and Sussex a bowler down, he sent down ten naggingly accurate overs of medium pace to take 1-5, as well as holding three catches in the deep.

One way or the other, he was involved in the wickets of all of the Pears’ top four.

His contribution after Worcestershire followed on was 2-44 off 18 overs including the key wicket of Daryl Mitchell towards the end of the third day.

Not so visible on the scorecard as the way he kept one end ticking over as Nash managed his four more recognised seamers.

Nash added: “He is a world class batsman. He is top order batter who bowls a bit but we have really missed someone like that.

“Over the years we have always had a lot of pace in our attack.

“But we haven’t had the Darren Stevens type, those guys who are accurate and keep one end up. It’s a really nice addition.”

Davis said he always suspected van Zyl might be handy with the ball in England.

He proved it out of necessity when Magoffin went down in the first innings against Worcestershire.

Davis told The Argus: “I felt he was under-bowled in South Africa.

“I saw him bowl in a couple of Test matches and I thought it might be useful in England. In the right conditions he could be very useful.

“They play with the Kookaburra so it’s a different ball.

“With the Duke, I think he will be more effective because he can nip the ball around a bit and he can swing the ball as well. We have signed him to bat in the top four.

“If he can add to our bowling attack like did in that game he will incredibly valuable to us.

“He is always there, we know he can bowl.

“When you are playing five seamers, you are not really thinking that he is going to be doing too much bowling.

“It worked out well for him because he has shown he can bowl here. It shows we have that option.”