Sussex sign 'Italian' Sandri

Sussex have signed Pepler Sandri on a one-year contract.

Although he was born and raised in South Africa, where he has played all his first-class cricket, he can play by virtue of him holding an Italian passport. He will still need ECB approval before he can turn out for Sussex.

Pepler is someone we've been tracking for a couple of seasons now and we've been alerted to the fact that he wants to come over and live in England," Mark Robinson, the county's cricket manager, said. "We sent Mark Davis over recently to have a look and meet him. Mark came back with a very favourable report and recommended that we gave him a one-year contract to see how he adapts to English conditions.

"We're excited to have him on board as he gives us the potential to have somebody a bit different, who can possibly be with us for the next four or five years."