Sussex skipper Chris Adams has ruled out a move for Australian speedster Brett Lee.

Sussex will need to replace Rana Naved with a second overseas bowler if, as seems certain, he joins Pakistan's tour of England in mid-June.

Adams admitted that his replacement could well be an Australian, but it won't be the 29-year-old from New South Wales who has gilded his reputation as the best fast bowler in the world since returning to their team for last summer's Ashes series. Lee has taken 192 wickets in 49 Tests and 219 in 192 one-day internationals.

Australia have no international commitments for six months after a short tour of Bangladesh finishes in April and several of their top stars are being coveted by county clubs.

But Lee is out of Sussex's price bracket. The county will announce their financial results next month and the indications are that the deficit will be similar to last year's £622,000 loss.

Adams said: "As always we have to apply financial rules when it comes to overseas players which is why you can rule Brett Lee out, he would cost a fortune."

Another player linked with a role as Rana's locum is West Indies' talented young all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

The 22-year-old, who has played nine Tests and 32 one-day internationals, is hoping to broaden his experience with a stint in county cricket although he is unlikely to be available until after the Twenty20 Cup group stages because West Indies' Test series against India doesn't finish until July 4.

Adams admitted that Bravo is "an exciting young cricketer" but said Sussex are well enough stocked with all-rounders.

What they need is a like-for-like replacement for Rana and the international schedule means they could be looking at either an Australian or another Pakistani.

"We're looking for someone who can make an impact with the new ball at the start of the innings and who is handy with the bat as well," said Adams.

"There will be plenty of players available, don't worry about that. Ideally it would be nice to have someone in place before the start of the season.

"But there's no reason why we can't hang on and see who becomes available if necessary. That's what Lancashire did last season when they lost Brad Hodge to Australia and picked up Andrew Symonds when the one-day series finished and look at the impact he made."

There are other factors to consider.

James Kirtley could miss the entire season if he doesn't sort out his action and although Sussex have strengthened their seam attack by signing Tim Linley, the former Oxford UCCE quick lacks experience at county level. The same applies to a lesser degree to Luke Wright despite the major strides forward he has made in the last two years.

"I'm very much in favour of giving youth a chance in the right circumstances," said Adams.

"But you are taking a huge risk replacing a player like James Kirtley or Jason Lewry with a relatively inexperienced bowler.

"It would be unfair to ask the likes of Tim and Luke to play a major part in the county season."

Adams must also be sure that any new player doesn't disrupt the excellent team spirit Sussex have built up in recent years.

"You normally have a gut feeling about someone pretty quickly," he added. "We were all set to sign Shane Nicholson at the start of last season but he never gave the impression that he wanted to come so when he turned us down I wasn't that surprised.

"With Rana I knew as soon as he arrived that he was going to be such a big player for us. He's going to be a big loss but we'll have him until June 18 and hopefully he can help give us a strong start to the season."

When it comes to recruting new talent county cricket might seem a million miles from the cut-throat world of Premiership football.

But all players have agents who are offering the services of their clients to Adams and cricket manager Mark Robinson virtually on a daily basis. The pair regularly get together to sift through emails, faxes and DVD footage of potential recruits.

Sussex can pride themselves on their record of choosing the right overseas players in recent years. Michael Bevan, Michael di Venuto, Murray Goodwin, Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana have all been outstanding successes.

Now they need to pull another rabbit out of the hat although supporters wouldn't be complaining if they came up with a like-for-like replacement for Rana.