Skipper Chris Adams today challenged Sussex's batsmen to fill Michael Bevan's boots over the next three weeks.

Bevan heads off to Melbourne later this week to take part in Australia's indoor one-day series against South Africa and he will miss the county's next three Championship games.

It means his spot in the batting order is up for grabs and several players get their chance to stake a claim when the second XI take on Glouc-estershire at Bristol University today.

Wasim Khan, Jamie Carpenter, Bas Zuiderent and Will House are among those hoping to impress enough to earn a first team place when Sussex resume their Champ-ionship challenge against North-amptonshire next Wednesday.

Bevan passed 1,000 runs for the season when he scored his fourth century in his last five innings in the seven wicket win over Middlesex which took the county to the top of Division Two on Monday.

"It's obviously a big blow to use Bev for the next three weeks, but I see it as a positive thing rather than a negative," said Adams.

"We have got some quality performers in the second XI, but no one has got the weight of runs which would make our job of selecting the side easy.

"There is no obvious replacement for Bev, but hopefully one of the guys will emerge from the second team game and say to us: 'I'm your man.'

The Sussex top five has remained unchanged all season, but only Tony Cottey and Richard Montgomerie have made centuries to add to Bevan's five hundreds.

"It's a great opportunity for myself and the rest of the guys to make the contributions which would make up for Bev's absence," added Adams.

"He has been a major factor in helping us to the top of the second division, but this is a chance for us to show to everyone that we're not solely relying on Bev for our runs."

Monday's win lifted Sussex to the top for the first time, but their slender three point lead will be overhauled in the next few days while other counties play their game in hand.

Worcestershire, Essex, Glamorgan and Warwickshire are all in action and could overhaul Sussex before they return to action at Northampton in a week's time.