Sussex's members looked quizzically at one another when Mushtaq Ahmed's name was not mentioned in the team to face Surrey at Hove. It was later revealed that Mushtaq, Sussex's whirling legspinner, underwent keyhole surgery on his right knee on Wednesday.

"We made the decision very quickly on the Wednesday morning," Mark Robinson, Sussex's cricket manager, said. "We were originally hoping that we would just play him in four-day cricket up to the Twenty20 window where he'd then have the operation.

"However, on reflection, we felt it wouldn't be right to compromise our strike bowler by having him playing in discomfort, so, with the amount of unsettled weather around and the fact our club surgeon said he could get him in that day, we felt it was the wisest decision to make. It is a routine operation that many sportsmen have and we are hopeful that Mushy will be back between two and three weeks."

Mushtaq was replaced by Ollie Rayner, the young offspinner, as play finally got underway at Hove after the first day's washout.