Sussex remain in the dark over the extent of Matt Machan’s injury problems.

Machan missed the second half of last season with a sore wrist which has yet to clear up despite surgery in September.

The 25-year-old from Brighton underwent further tests last week in a bid to find a solution and was due to see a specialist yesterday to discuss the options open to him.

Head coach Mark Davis remains hopeful Machan will be available for the start of next season but admits the fact the Scotland international’s injury has not responded to treatment so far is concerning.

Davis said: “It has been frustrating for Matt as he had to miss a large chunk of last season and was even struggling with the problem towards the end of the Twenty20 campaign. We had hoped it would have been sorted by now so he could start working towards next summer but unfortunately things haven’t improved.

“It’s a repetitive injury. Modern cricketers hit a lot of big shots so I think more and more of them will be troubled by similar problems as they are putting a lot of stress on their wrists.

“There was a lot of inflammation so he had surgery to clean it out and get rid of the scar tissue but it hasn’t made any difference which is obviously a concern. It hasn’t settled down at all so we now have to find out if there is something else behind it.

“We’ve sought a second opinion and should know a little bit more about the extent of the injury in the next few days. I’m optimistic he’ll be fit for the start of the season but until we get to the bottom of things it’s impossible to say for sure.”

Sussex’s hopes of having England all-rounder Chris Jordan available for the start of the season have improved after he was released by Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore yesterday.

Jordan was one of ten players released by Bangalore along with South Africa international David Wiese who spent the second half of last season at Hove. It means he will now enter the player auction in February where he will hope to be picked up by another team.

The 28-year-old was snapped up by Bangalore at the last minute in April as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Starc and went on to play nine games as the Royal Challengers reached the final before going down to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Jordan would miss at least Sussex’s opening three Championship games and the entire Royal London One Day Cup campaign if he takes part in the IPL.