Sussex's Champions League hopes received a boost today when Dwayne Smith confirmed he will play for the county in the tournament in October.

The 26-year-old all-rounder was Sussex’s best player as they won the Twenty20 Cup for the first time to qualify for the inaugural tournament in India which features the 12 best teams in the world.

He could have played for Indian Premier League champions Deccan Chargers, one of three Indian Premier League teams taking part, but has opted to stick with Sussex.

Smith was included in Sussex’s initial 20 man squad named yesterday which will be reduced to 15 names in a fortnight.

Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla is also included along with both Matt Prior and Luke Wright, who will fly directly to India from South Africa after playing for England in the Champions Trophy.

Coach Mark Robinson said: “This is a great chance for us to pit our wits against the world’s best. It will be a great challenge for what is still a young squad of our mental and physical toughness and will be a fantastic learning curve for the whole side.”

Sussex will fly to Delhi on October 5 to begin a week of preparation ahead of games against New South Wales Blues on October 13 (10.30am) and Diamond Eagles (13th, 2.30pm).

Squad: Ragheb Aga, Yasir Arafat, Will Beer, Ben Brown, Piyush Chawla, Joe Gatting, Rory Hamilton-Brown, Andrew Hodd (wk), Carl Hopkinson, Ed Joyce, Chad Keegan, James Kirtley, Chris Liddle, Robin Martin-Jenkins, Chris Nash, Matt Prior, Ollie Rayner, Dwayne Smith, Luke Wright, Mike Yardy (capt).