Saqlain Mushtaq today praised the support of the Sussex family' for getting him back in action.

The 30-year-old off spinner has made an impressive start to his career with the county with wickets in both pre-season friendlies against Glamorgan this week.

He will not be eligible to play county matches until next month when he receives his British passport and becomes EU qualified.

But he is desperate to repay the faith Sussex have shown in him after he signed a two-year contract last month.

He said: "The whole team and the whole club are behind me and it's a big help for me.

"Sussex are like a big happy family and they also know how to win from the success they have had in the last two or three years - they work hard together."

Saqlain could be one of three Pakistan internationals in the side this season. Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved, their two overseas signings, will link up with the squad next week ahead of the start of their Championship defence against Kent at Hove a fortnight today.

And Saqlain has not even ruled out a return to international cricket in the future. He has taken 208 Test and 288 one-day international wickets and will be qualified to play for England next year, having married his British wife nine years ago.

He added: "Obviously I would like to play international cricket again but at the moment I'm just excited to be wearing the cricket uniform again.

"The first phase of my thoughts is to play well again for Sussex and then we will see about international cricket."

Sussex continue their pre-season preparations with two 50 overs matches against Northants at Hove, starting today (10.45am).

The only player not expected to figure, apart from the overseas pair and Murray Goodwin, is fast bowler Jason Lewry, who is still recovering from a virus.