Mohammad Rizwan: Sussex sign Pakistan wicketkeeper as former skipper Ben Brown leaves

Mohammad Rizwan is the first batter to score more than 1,000 T20 runs in a calendar year

Sussex have signed Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan for part of the 2022 season and released former club captain Ben Brown.

Rizwan, 29, will arrive in early April and be available for the Championship and T20 Blast until mid-July.

He has played 19 Tests for his country, averaging 42 with the bat, plus 41 one-dayers and 52 T20 internationals.

Brown, 33, requested a release from his contract with the club, which had two years left to run.

Sussex's County Championship and One-Day Cup head coach Ian Salisbury said: "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really disappointed to learn we'd be losing a player of Ben Brown's quality.

"Now that has happened, though, we have to look forward and I'm delighted that we've been able to act quickly over the last week or so to secure the services of one of the world's best keeper-batters as a replacement.

"Mohammad's first-class and Test records speak for themselves and it's a huge coup to welcome him to Sussex for a big chunk of next season's Championship."

Sussex have already agreed a deal with Australia batsman Travis Head, who will skipper the team in the Championship next summer.

Ben Brown has scored 22 first-class centuries and one in List A cricket

Crawley-born Brown has been with Sussex since the start of his career, scoring 10,843 runs and completing 583 dismissals in all forms of the game.

He was appointed captain in 2017 but relieved of the job during the 2021 season.

"We've tried hard to find a way forward that keeps him at the club and until very recently thought that would be something we could achieve. However, it's now clear that Ben is set on a change, and it would be in nobody's interests to keep him at Sussex against his will," said chief executive Rob Andrew.

"Ben has been part of Sussex for over two decades and has a record he can be extremely proud of. He has always given everything with the bat, the gloves or with his captaincy."