Wanganui Collegiate old boy and Twenty20 Black Cap Tom Bruce has inked a contract with the Sussex County Cricket Club to play their full T20 Blast competition as a middle order batsman.
The 26-year-old, who was among some of the noteworthy players not to receive a New Zealand Cricket contract for 2018-19, was already in England to play some summer league cricket, turning out for Weybridge in the Surrey Premier League.
Sussex head coach and former Australian test player Jason Gillespie said the knee injury to South African Stiaan van Zyl would be "an extended lay-off", so Bruce was the appropriate replacement.
"Tom has experience on the biggest stage with New Zealand and is exactly the type of dynamic middle order stroke maker we're looking for.
"The injury to Stiaan van Zyl forced us to reassess our squad and we've decided that we need to bring in a quality overseas batsman for the duration of the tournament."