London [UK], May 27 : Sussex has signed West Indies pacer Obed McCoy as their fifth overseas player for their T20 Blast campaign on Friday.
Counties can register up to three overseas players simultaneously but only field two in a single playing XI and Sussex had initially planned to split their slots for the Blast between Mohammad Rizwan and Rashid Khan.
Rizwan's signing became questionable after Pakistan announced new dates for their ODI series against West Indies right in the middle of the Blast's schedule.
Sussex initially signed Josh Philippe as a partial replacement but his availability was then limited by an Australia A tour to Sri Lanka. That prompted the recruitment of Tim Seifert as a third keeper-batter for a short stint in the middle of the season.
McCoy will be replacing Rashid, as the latter will be playing in the summit clash of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Sunday and an Afghanistan tour to Zimbabwe.
"Obed will be a fantastic addition to our team. He is an up-and-coming world-class T20 cricketer. Fresh off a very successful IPL, he can bowl with pace and has great skills at the death," said James Kirtley, Sussex T20 head coach, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
Sussex started the season with a defeat at home to Glamorgan on Thursday night. they will now be going up against Gloucestershire in their next clash.