County Championship: Australian Mitch Swepson to make Glamorgan debut against Sussex

Mitch Swepson joined Glamorgan after paceman Michael Neser was called up by Australia

Australia spinner Mitch Swepson makes his Glamorgan debut and Tom Bevan looks set for his first senior appearance of the season against Sussex.

Bevan could bat at three following the success of stand-in openers Zain Ul Hassan and Andrew Salter at Durham.

Swepson has been signed after pace bowler Michael Neser was called up by Australia.

The match in Cardiff is part of two rounds played with Kookaburra balls instead of the usual Dukes.

So why the experiment?

"They're trying to prepare people better for when we go to Australia and different parts of the world [because] the Duke is quite unique," explained Glamorgan seam bowler James Harris, chair of the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA).

"Australia have been using a version of the Duke in their domestic competition to get used to conditions when they come here, so this is our attempt to prepare for different conditions."

But Harris is not expecting the bowlers to benefit from the Championship experiment.

"It's a different cricket ball - the Duke seam is a lot flatter and it doesn't shine quite as well," he said

"What you're going to see is a ball that swings for the first eight to 10 overs and then becomes really challenging for the bowlers from that point," he said.

"If it gets wet, it's problematic in that it's going to go soft. So the best chance for the bowlers is trying to get it to reverse [swing] if conditions dictate, and the surrounding wickets are dry enough."

"The Kookaburra is a different challenge for us. We've been facing a handful in the nets and it feels like a much lighter ball," added batter Sam Northeast.

"It'll probably reverse swing earlier than the Dukes and definitely more, but we'll have to see how the Kookaburra reacts to the pitches."

Swepson will be Glamorgan's only overseas player, with Bevan returning from a shoulder injury just in time to replace Colin Ingram, who is still sidelined by Achilles problems, while regular openers David Lloyd and Eddie Byrom are still injured.

Bevan will be playing only his second Championship match, making 48 in the win over Derbyshire last September.

Nathan McAndrew and Henry Shipley will be Sussex's overseas players, after Steve Smith and Cheteshwar Pujara featured in the draw in Hove in May, when Glamorgan fielded Marnus Labuschagne and Neser.

Sussex were frustrated in that match by Glamorgan batting over six sessions in their second innings to salvage a draw.

"The pitches here have been excellent. We had a really good game against Glamorgan in Hove until we dropped a couple of catches and ran out of steam, and we felt we had been fielding quite a few days," said Sussex coach Paul Farbrace.

"You don't get too carried away [with the T20 win on Friday in Cardiff]. It's a different ball and we've got the Kookaburra to play with. Two good teams playing well, and I'm looking forward to a good game."

Both teams have one win and six draws from the first half of the campaign, but Sussex are second in Division Two, ten points ahead of Glamorgan in fifth, courtesy of a better bonus-point haul.

Glamorgan (from): Ul Hassan, Salter, Bevan, Northeast, Carlson (c), Root, Cooke, Van der Gugten, Harris, Swepson, McIlroy, Horton, Gorvin, Sisodiya.

Sussex (from): Haines, Clark, Alsop (c), Coles, Carter, Ibrahim, Hudson-Prentice, McAndrew, Carson, Shipley, Karvelas, Ward, Crocombe, Hunt.