PLAYER PROFILES

Tom Haines

Despite a frustrating spell out with a broken hand during the middle of last season, our Championship captain has still averaged 48.1 since the start of 2021. That consistency earned him selection for the England Lions earlier this year and he made a century in the first of the two first-class matches against Sri Lanka A. Haines ended last season with a flourish by scoring hundreds in both innings of the final match against Glamorgan, the first time a Sussex batter has done that since 2011. He had bookended the season nicely – 524 of his 941 runs in 2022 were scored in that game and the first away match at Derby, where he made 243.

Cheteshwar Pujara

The Indian batter is back for his second season with Sussex having enjoyed an outstanding 2022. Pujara scored more than 1,000 Championship runs including three double hundreds as he averaged 109.4. After playing for India in the Test match at Old Trafford he returned to captain Sussex in the Royal London Cup and continued his fine form, averaging 89.14 and scoring 174 against Surrey. The 35-year-old played his 100th Test for India against Australia in February 2023 and has scored more than 7,000 Test runs.

Shadab Khan

The Pakistani leg-spinning all-rounder has signed for the Blast campaign and brings a wealth of experience. He made his international T20 debut in 2017 and has played more than 80 T20 internationals and is close to 100 wickets for Pakistan, for whom he is also vice-captain. He is more than handy with the bat too, and has an T20I strike rate of 143.8 including a top score of 52. Last season, Shadab played for Yorkshire in the Vitality Blast.

NATHAN McANDREW

The Australian fast-bowling all-rounder will be with Sussex until July to play in the County Championship and Vitality Blast. The 29-year-old is well known to head coach Paul Farbrace after playing seven Championship games for Warwickshire last season, when he took 20 wickets and scored two half-centuries. McAndrew produced his best T20 bowling performance during the winter when he took 4-32 for Sydney Thunder, his eighth season competing in the Big Bash.

Steve Smith

Sussex secured the Australia captain for three Championship matches in the early weeks of the season as he prepares for the Ashes series. The former Australia captain, who made his Test debut back in 2010, is currently ICC world ranked No2 batter and going into the tour of India in February the 33-year-old had scored 30 Test centuries. Smith played second XI cricket for Surrey and Kent in his formative years but his only other stint in county cricket was with Worcestershire, when he played in their 2010 T20 campaign.

Jofra Archer

England commitments and injury mean Sussex supporters have seen little of their prize fast bowler in the last few years, but he reaffirmed his commitment to the county by signing a contract extension until the end of 2023. Archer returned to competitive cricket after elbow and back injuries in England’s one-day series in South Africa in January and Sussex fans will hope to see a little bit of him in action during the 2023 season.

Ollie Robinson

Robinson is very much an England player first these days but he can always be guaranteed to put a shift in for his county. After recovering from injury and getting back into the Test team last year he only made three Championship appearances but still took 17 wickets at 15.64. With his step-father now installed as Head Coach, Sussex fans will be hoping Paul Farbrace can persuade Ollie to play a few more games for Sussex in 2023!

Ali Orr

Orr firmly established himself in Sussex’s Championship team in 2022 while also making strides in white-ball cricket and is now a batter around the county can build their team for several years to come. In the Championship he passed 1,000 runs in the final game against Glamorgan when he fell two runs short of a double hundred. Belatedly chosen in the Blast, his strike rate of 161 was only bettered by Tim Seifert while in the Royal London Cup he made the first double hundred by a Sussex batter in List A cricket against Somerset at Taunton. At 21, the left-hander has a big future in front of him.

Tom Clark

The 21-year-old left-hander and product of the club’s academy signed a contract extension in early 2023, four years after making his Championship debut. Last year he made two Championship centuries but perhaps just as significant was his maiden List A hundred against Surrey, which offered proof that he can flourish in all formats.

Tom Alsop

Tom, 27, joined on loan from Hampshire, but his performances soon earned him a contract until 2025. The left-handed batter, who also keeps wicket in white-ball cricket, scored back-to-back Championship centuries against Durham and Middlesex and finished the season with four hundreds and an average of 42.27. He also made an impact in shorter formats including a career-best 189 not out against Middlesex in the Royal London Cup.

Ollie Carter

Carter established himself as first-choice keeper-batter in 2022 before Charlie Tear was given the last couple of Championship games. The 21-year-old knows he has competition for his place but Carter will relish the challenge. Last season he averaged a very respectable 48.51 in the Championship and scored his maiden hundred against Glamorgan. He spent the winter playing grade cricket in Adelaide with Orr and Fynn Hudson-Prentice.

Delray Rawlins

Delray signed a contract extension at the end of the 2022 season and will be looking to build on some impressive performances in last year’s Royal London Cup when he achieved his List A best with both the bat and ball. A multi-format player who plays international cricket for Bermuda, the 25-year-old made his debut in 2017 and will be looking to kick on during the peak years of his career.

Ari Karvelas

Ari signed a permanent contract last October after some outstanding performances in 2022 in both red and white-ball cricket. The 28-year-old, who played international cricket for Greece, spearheaded Sussex’s run to the semi-finals of the Royal London Cup by taking 20 wickets as well as making good contributions in the Championship.

Jack Carson

Carson endured a frustrating 2022 and only returned to action in September after knee surgery and then a foot injury meant he only played three Championship games. But the 22-year-old off spinner from Northern Ireland is highly regarded and was selected for the England Lions tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year and picked up nine wickets in the two first-class matches against the hosts.

Charlie Tear

Charlie made his debut at the end of 2022 with two first-class appearances. A wicketkeeper-batter developed through Sussex’s pathway, the 18-year-old was coached by former Sussex captain Chris Adams at Seaford College near Petworth. He has played junior cricket for Scotland but spent the first part of 2023 in Australia with England’s under-19s.

FYNN HUDSON-PRENTICE

The all-rounder’s second spell with Sussex was badly affected by a serious back injury but after a winter in Australia he will be hoping to make up for lost time in 2023. A capable player in all formats, Hudson-Prentice was limited to just three games in all three formats last year after returning to Hove from Derbyshire but reported no issues during his time in Adelaide and the 27-year-old is raring to go.

Steve Finn

It was a frustrating first season at Sussex for the former England bowler, who finished it undergoing a knee operation. Finn played in every game in the Blast but was restricted to just five Championship appearances and took a modest seven wickets. Finn will be 34 when the season starts but if he stays injuryfree he will have a big role to play, not least as a mentor to the younger members of the bowling attack.

Bradley Currie

Currie got his chance in the second half of the season after a successful trial and quickly made his mark. Only two bowlers took more than his 15 Championship wickets, which included six wickets on debut at Lord’s, even though he played only four games. The left-armer only missed one match in the Royal London Cup and had the best economy rate of all Sussex’s bowlers. The 24-year-old could have a big season ahead. In March 2023, Currie signed a contract extension.

Henry Crocombe

It seems that Crocombe has been around for a while now but the bustling seamer is still only 21 and became even more important last year when injuries decimated Sussex’s bowling attack. Crocombe bowled 215 Championship overs – only Delray Rawlins sent down more – even though he played in nine of the 14 matches. He also appeared in both the Blast and Royal London Cup and will have another important role to play this year.

Sean Hunt

Sean signed a contract extension last May and 2022 turned out to be a breakthrough season for the left-arm seamer as injuries regularly meant he took the new ball in Championship cricket and he finished leading wicket-taker with 18 in his eight appearances. Hunt joined Sussex in 2019 from Surrey and at 21 he has bags of potential and the ability to give even the best batsmen the hurry-up.

George Garton

No cricketer has endured as frustrating a time in the post-Covid era as Garton. He was diagnosed with Long Covid in 2021 and spent the next year making sporadic appearances for Sussex and Southern Brave in the Hundred. But early in 2023 he revealed that he had been misdiagnosed and had a blood clot on his lung, which was treatable. The 25-year-old wintered playing in various T20 leagues and will be hoping his fitness worries are behind him. He still has so much to offer.

Daniel Ibrahim

It was a frustrating 2022 for Ibrahim, after his record-breaking achievements in 2021. The 18-year-old was side-lined by a shoulder injury suffered in the Championship opener against Nottinghamshire before he returned to play his part in Sussex’s run to the semi-finals of the Royal London Cup in August. He was chosen for England under-19s tour of Australia early in 2023 and made 54 in the second Youth Test in Brisbane.

Archie Lenham

Archie signed a contract extension during a busy winter when he toured Australia with England under-19s. The 19-year-old leg-spinner was 16 when he followed in the footsteps of his father Neil and grandfather Les and made his Sussex debut in the Blast and took 3-14 against Hampshire. Lenham has played in all three formats and is a product of the club’s junior pathway.

Jamie Atkins

After taking 20 wickets in five Championship appearances in 2021 and signing a contract until the end of the 2024 season, potentially the fastest bowler on the Sussex staff struggled to make much of an impact last year. He only made three Championship appearances –all in the first month of the season – but at 21 the academy product has time on his hands and the physical attributes to make his mark.

Tymal Mills

Mills signed a contract extension in the winter and is set for a decade of service to Sussex in the Blast, having joined in 2015. Last season’s T20 campaign fell a little flat but the left-armer finished leading wicket-taker with 15. The 30-year-old was part of the England squad which won the World Cup last November and has played in various franchise competitions including the Big Bash and IPL.

Ravi Bopara

Bopara’s first stint as captain in the Blast was disappointing as Sussex won four games out of 14 and had their worst performance for a decade. His own form – 294 runs and 13 wickets – was more than respectable and shrewd recruitment this winter should leave him with more armoury at his disposal in 2023.

James Coles

The all-rounder burst onto the scene at the end of 2020 when he became the second-youngest player to play first-class cricket for Sussex against Surrey at the Oval. Coles is the first product of the partnership Sussex formed in 2013 with Oxfordshire to develop players who become pros. Last season he appeared in all three competitions and last May signed a contract until the end of 2023.

Harrison Ward

Like James Coles, a product of Sussex’s partnership with Oxfordshire, Ward was a mainstay of Sussex’s white-ball teams last season. The 23-year-old left-hander, who is contracted until the end of 2023, would arguably benefit from a defined role in the Blast team. He often came in at No7 and had little time to make an impact.