Sussex spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has undergone keyhole knee surgery which could rule him out for as much as three weeks.

The former Pakistan international, who has been arguably the main factor in the county's recent successes, was admitted to hospital on Thursday evening after the county champions decided to bring forward the planned operation.

Mark Robinson, Sussex's professional cricket manager, said: "We made the decision very quickly on the Wednesday morning. We were originally hoping that we would just play him in four-day cricket up to the Twenty20 window where he'd then have the operation.

"However, on reflection, we felt it wouldn't be right to compromise our strike bowler by having him playing in discomfort, so, with the amount of unsettled weather around and the fact our club surgeon said he could get him in that day, we felt it was the wisest decision to make.

"It is a routine operation that many sportsmen have and we are hopeful that Mushy will be back between two and three weeks."

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