2024 Sussex Members' Yearbook

A sunny evening at The 1st Central County Ground and Sussex Sharks are playing their old rivals Surrey in the Vitality Blast. What a sight! (Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

BY JON FILBY, CHAIR

I would like to begin by thanking Rob Andrew for his seven years of outstanding service and unstinting hard work on behalf of Sussex Cricket. He led the organisation through the Covid years and oversaw the very successful Tate Residences project which leaves us in a substantially stronger financial position than he found us despite the impact of the Covid pandemic. We all wish him every success in his new role as he seeks to work with colleagues at the ECB and around the country to safeguard the future of the player pathway and of the professional game in all its formats.

AN EXCITING SEASON AHEAD

The 2024 season promises to be exciting for Sussex members as our men’s team strive hard for promotion back to the first division of the County Championship. It is also an important season in the history of county cricket, as critical decisions will be made by the counties about the future of our main competitions, the ownership of the teams in The Hundred tournament and about the short-term future of women’s professional cricket. Members can be assured that they will be kept up to date and consulted as the work associated with these issues develops during the year.

I am delighted to welcome Pete Fitzboydon as our new Chief Executive Officer. Pete is a highly experienced CEO across a range of sports including his most recent role as Chief Executive of Cricket Scotland. He has a deep passion for cricket and has spent many hours enjoying cricket at Hove when he lived in the county during our most successful years under the leadership of Peter Moores, Mark Robinson and Chris Adams. Pete has identified as his early priorities returning the men’s team to the first division and competing for the County Championship, developing a professional women’s team and, of course, continuing the growth of the game at all levels across Sussex.

This time last year we welcomed Paul Farbrace as our new Head Coach. I am sure that members agree with me that his impact was significant and immediate as he got us all talking about turning potential into performance. Indeed, our season began with a remarkable Championship win over Durham when Oli Carter’s plucky

resistance secured the victory on a very tense Sunday morning at The 1st Central County Ground. This year, with the arrival of two highly experienced cricketers in John Simpson from Middlesex and Danny Lamb from Lancashire, Paul is talking about turning performance into promotion and we all share that excitement.

John Simpson has been appointed as captain of the County Championship team for the first seven matches and Tymal Mills will captain our team in the T20 Blast. We also have an exciting group of highly talented overseas players including a mix of returning favourites in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara, Nathan McAndrew and Jaydev Unadkat and newcomers Daniel Hughes, from New South Wales, and West Indies paceman Jayden Seales. Another important sign of the growing confidence in the group is the number of multi-year deals that were signed over the winter by key players such as Jack Carson, Sean Hunt, Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Tymal Mills.

LEFT: Jaydev Unadkat celebrates the wicket of Leicestershire’s Colin Ackermann last September. The Indian left-armer will return to Sussex for a spell at the end of the 2024 season.

The important work of the Sussex Pathway coaches continues to produce players for the first team and Bertie Foreman, Zach Lion-Cachet and Henry Rogers have all been signed on rookie contracts, whilst Charlie Tear has graduated from a rookie contract and has also received his first call-up to the Scotland side where he will join Brad Currie. Both Charlie and Brad will be hoping to play for Scotland in the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States during June and July. Sussex Cricket is still over reliant on the fee-paying schools for the development of players in our pathway and for this reason we will be working harder than ever with our state school of choice - the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy - to enable them to provide a cricketing education that matches those of the private schools. It is very pleasing that Sir Rod Aldridge has been invited to join the ECB State Schools Cricket Taskforce to help develop nationwide solutions to this significant issue.

It is also a pivotal year in the development of the women’s professional game with a tender exercise recently completed as I write to identify eight counties to host Tier One sides in the top division of both the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy. You can be assured that we worked hard on our bid. It is essential to the future of cricket in Sussex that we develop a women’s professional team to play alongside the men that have represented the county since 1839.

Sussex has a rich history in women’s cricket and exciting plans for the future. We are very proud that five Sussex players were called up to various England teams this winter and 2024 will see Sussex play games at Hove and the return of England v New Zealand in July. This game is a rematch of the first ever T20 international which took place at Hove in 2004 when England’s captain was our very own Clare Connor.

The Sussex Cricket Foundation continues to be the jewel in the crown of Sussex Cricket and my huge thanks go to the trustees of the Foundation under the leadership of Ish Jalal and the brilliant executive team led by Gary Wallis-Tayler. The

recreational game in Sussex continues to grow. Last summer we launched the Aldridge Women’s Premier League, and the 1st Central Sussex Cricket League now has close to 400 teams competing in 39 divisions. Congratulations to Cuckfield who won the title for the first time and Horsham who were the first winners of the women’s league. I am sure both clubs will be fighting hard to retain their crowns this summer.

Alongside the core activity of running recreational cricket in Sussex, the Foundation does a huge amount of work making a difference to the lives of people through the power of cricket. This winter an LGBTQ+ group has met regularly at Hove, and we intend that Sussex

Cricket is fully involved in Brighton Pride in August. Our Sporting Memories groups continue to grow with weekly meetings around the county bringing together folk who might otherwise not have the opportunity to meet others, and Walking Cricket is being played at several venues around the county.

This is also a significant summer for the continuing growth of our work on disability cricket and I would like to draw everybody’s attention to SCF’s Inclusive Cricket Weekend at Hove from May 10-12. For three days the ground will be used exclusively for disability cricket, which starts with DIScoverABILITY Day on Friday May 10. On Saturday 11 our Sussex Sharks

Visually Impaired team will play their postponed 2023 national T20 cup final at the ground and on Sunday 12 our D40 team plays Lancashire. Please come along and support the teams. You will not be disappointed!

In closing I would like to thank the volunteers who make it possible for us to run Sussex Cricket and particularly my colleagues on the Board and the trustees of the Foundation who selflessly give of their time. It is much appreciated. I should also like to reiterate my thanks to all of our members for your support. I look forward to seeing you at Hove and at recreational grounds around the county for another exciting season of cricket.

RIGHT: The 1st Central County Ground hosted England Women again in 2023 when they took on Sri Lanka in front a sold-out crowd.

BY PETE FITZBOYDON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE

A HEALTHY POSITION, ON AND OFF THE FIELD

At the time of writing, I have not yet started my role as CEO of Sussex Cricket so please excuse the distinct lack of detail in this welcome message. However, I wanted to introduce myself in writing, before hopefully meeting as many of you as possible during the coming season.

The phrase ‘dream job’ is used far too frequently, but for me it is completely apt. I have had a lifelong passion for cricket, since being taken by my uncle to see my first County Championship game in 1986. It was Somerset versus Kent at the Bath Recreation Ground, and I can still visualise the spectacle of Joel Garner rumbling in to open the bowling, not long after seeing Viv Richards complete a seemingly effortless century (Ian Botham was injured, but I suppose you can’t have everything!) It instilled a life-long passion for the game, both as a fan and a (talentless) player that continues (just) to this day.

I have worked in sport for over 20 years, and my ambition has always been to end up working in the sport I love. I have accumulated an unusually wide set of experience along the way that I hope will be useful to Sussex Cricket, such as leading the UK’s largest sports charity; transforming a £100m leisure company; leading various national governing bodies; supporting professional rugby clubs to recover from their financial challenges; and most recently helping Cricket Scotland recover from a point of crisis. To use this experience to lead a county that I have a personal connection with is a dream come true, having frequented the County Ground in the late 2000s when I lived locally.

The above reinforces two things: the potential of cricket to inspire young people; and the responsibility of my new role to make sure we ‘pass the cricket baton’ to future generations.

To this end one of my first tasks will be to refresh the organisation’s strategy.

I am keen to meet as wide a cross section of people as possible to agree Sussex Cricket’s priorities, over and above the obvious ones of supporting the grassroots game, excelling at elite level and continued financial sustainability.

That said, my many conversations to date all pointed towards an overarching priority: unity. It is clear that the cricketing community in Sussex is really passionate about the game and its future, but perhaps less so on agreeing on the future ways of achieving it.

Whatever the direction that we agree collectively, the most important thing will be that everyone falls in behind it. This can only happen with good communication, enhanced transparency and a great deal of effort to retain the confidence of everyone. This is my commitment to the Sussex Cricket community.

I feel that I am joining the organisation at the perfect moment. While there may be some areas to focus on, it strikes me that Sussex Cricket is in a very healthy position both on and off the field. Emerging from the pandemic debt-free is a commendable achievement in the sporting world, and the club has nurtured a talented squad capable of returning to where Sussex belongs: the top tier of the men’s County Championship.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ian Waring for the exceptional job he has done as Interim CEO and for handing over the organisation in such a healthy position.

I look forward to meeting you all in due course, during a year that I am confident will be a successful one for Sussex Cricket.

LEFT: Pete Fitzboydon is looking forward to sampling the special atmosphere of T20 nights at The 1st Central County Ground. ‘I feel that am joining the organisation at the perfect moment,’ he said following his appointment earlier this year.

BY HEAD COACH PAUL FARBRACE

WE WON’T STOP TALKING ABOUT EXPECTING TO WIN

HEAD COACH PAUL FARBRACE

REFLECTS ON 2023 AND LOOKS AHEAD TO THE NEW SEASON.

Winning, enjoyment and opportunity. They were the words I used a lot at this point last year in my pre-season notes ahead of the 2023 season. Nothing has changed, and yet a lot has actually changed from this time last year.

We did make good progress in the County Championship, winning three games, losing only one and earning as many points as Worcestershire, who got promoted to Division One. But we had 12 points deducted for on-field indiscipline and five points deducted for our slow over rate. Our performances proved that talking about promotion to the top division was absolutely the right thing to do. We are capable of being promoted and we should fully expect to be up there this season challenging again.

Certain players always stand out, and some players will look back with regret or disappointment. That is the nature of the game, and whilst I do not like picking out individuals and would far rather talk about the team it is inevitable that I should mention certain players at this point.

Fynn Hudson Prentice had a very good season and was rightly awarded his county cap, which was a fantastic moment for him and his family. He was very consistent with the bat, although not always with the ball, especially in the second half of the season. He knows that to take his game to the next level he needs to get the big totals he is more than capable of and start scoring first-class hundreds.

James Coles had an excellent season, especially with the bat, and showed that he has the skill to play at the highest level. As he develops and learns his bowling will only continue to improve, and the trip with England Lions to India during the winter will certainly have helped with that.

Jack Carson, another player rightly selected for the Lions trip, made huge strides as a quality spin bowler, and showed that he can score important runs and is capable of batting much higher up the order than he currently does.

Tom Alsop showed that he is a fine player. He was awarded his county cap at the start of last season and developed into a cornerstone of the team in all formats. He has great determination to keep improving and seems to have found an environment at Hove that will allow him to keep showing how good a player he is. He captained the team at various stages of last season and will only continue to improve as a leader in our team.

Oli Carter had a very good season as both a batter and wicketkeeper. He is someone that contributes real quality and fighting spirit to the team. He battles hard for everything he achieves and cares deeply about the team and the club.

Cheteshwar Pujara continued to show his high quality with the bat and is such a great example to all of our players in not only maintaining his high standards but also by still trying to improve

his game. He also captained the team very well and used his experience to guide the players on and off the field.

Our Vitality Blast campaign was a real mixed bag. We won five of the seven games away from Hove but only once at home, which ultimately cost us any chance of progressing to the knockout stage. I took full responsibility for that. Our focus throughout the pre-season period was around Championship cricket until the first week of May. That is something we have changed for the coming season, and I will come back to that.

We were very fortunate that in Ravi Bopara we had such an experienced and high-quality player whose performances and captaincy skills kept us in games. Along with Tymal Mills, we had two guys who have played an awful lot of T20 cricket. We are going to miss Ravi this year and will need others to step up, led by Tymal as our new captain.

We had so many players who had either not played or played very little T20 cricket before 2023. Tom Clark is a great example, as prior to last season he had not played a T20 game at first-team level. Over the course of the campaign he grew and showed he can be a top player in this format, along with his development in red-ball cricket. Michael Burgess did a great job for us on loan from Warwickshire. He offered experience behind the stumps and scored valuable runs in the middle order.

The 50-over competition was a real disappointment, and we simply never played the quality of cricket needed to win games consistently enough. We used the competition to give opportunity to all our professionals and to find out about them, but we had enough quality to have played better and won more games.

We will not be signing an overseas player for this competition for 2024 and will be giving opportunities again to our younger players while still trying to win the games. I have never turned up to a game not expecting to win and that will not change, but this competition is becoming a developmental tournament and I hope the ECB looks carefully at how we can play far more meaningful cricket in August. I know festival

cricket has been suggested, but I am not a fan of that. We need to be brave with our choices, and I would love to see a second division of The Hundred being played by the players not involved in the eight franchise teams there currently are.

We have signed two excellent professionals in John Simpson and Danny Lamb. John will captain the Championship team for the first seven games and, provided he is happy with how that works for his own game, he will continue in that role. He has settled so well at Hove and is proving to be the player we needed. He has vast experience and is still driven to be the best he can and continues to set high standards with everything he does.

Danny has not played the amount of cricket across all formats that he would have liked over the last couple of seasons, and we have been very fortunate to attract him to Hove. He is a combative all-round player who will bring a winning mentality and desire to be the best he can every day. We are all really looking forward to seeing Danny bring his high level of skill and help us win more games this summer.

The overseas players we have signed are all exciting talents who are at different stages of their careers.

Cheteshwar Pujara is back with us for the first seven Championship games and whilst he is not included in India’s Test team as I write this, a few weeks before we start the season, it means he will be even more motivated when he joins us in April.

We are delighted Nathan McAndrew is back for a second stint with us. He fitted in so well last season and showed his quality with the ball. We also know he is more than capable of playing match-winning innings too. He will play a mixture of T20 and Championship cricket.

Jayden Seales has signed to play the first seven Championship matches and will be very keen to put in good performances to help cement a place in the West Indies squad for the Test series against England starting in July. Jayden is an exciting pace bowler who is still learning about international cricket and will work hard to keep taking his game to the next level.

Daniel Hughes will join us for the start of the T20 campaign and then stay until the end of the season, although he will not play in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup. Dan is a vastly experienced player who is used to winning and expects to win. He will not only contribute hugely on the field with the bat but will be a great role model for our players around training, practice and their understanding of the game.

We did have a rocky period that was well documented last November when Ali Orr moved to Hampshire. Hopefully we have all moved on from that. It wasn’t a pleasant experience and was a reminder that professional sport raises emotions and gives people a platform to express their views.

“WE WILL BE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO WIN, WE WILL NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT WINNING AND EXPECTING TO WIN.”

It also reminded me how important it is to be upfront and as honest as you can with your members and supporters because it is your club and you deserve to know what is happening. And I know you will be here supporting your team long after some of us have moved on.

I am really looking forward to the new season. I have been at Hove for the whole winter, working with the other coaches and support staff to help prepare the players for the summer ahead. It has allowed for far more collaboration and for us to be much clearer in our planning and thinking. We have had plenty of time to review everything about 2023 and be really honest about the areas we need to improve.

I will give you two good examples of this. In Championship cricket to win more games we need to be able to take more wickets in the

second innings between the 25th and 80th over. That isn’t just a bowling issue, and we are not just pointing the finger at the bowlers. As part of this drive for improvement in this area we are working on fitness, fielding, catching and game plans.

In T20 cricket we have identified our lack of ability to score more boundaries and specifically when batting at the sea end at The 1st Central County Ground. We have worked very hard on being able to ramp or scoop over our own shoulder and get the ball down the hill.

These are just two small examples, but hopefully it gives you all an idea of the detail we are looking at and working hard on.

I would like to finish by saying how grateful we are to our grounds team led by Ben Gibson, and how fortunate we are to have high-quality pitches for our matches and also to practice on. We are determined to keep playing on the best pitches possible and that includes surfaces that take more spin as Championship games develop over four days.

Finally, a thank you to all the members and supporters who continue to support your team, and we do not forget what a privilege it is to work at Hove and have your great backing. I can honestly say that every member that spoke to me last season was pleasant and genuinely interested in their team. I do get that at times you are frustrated by performances, team selections or the choice of overseas player, but the great thing about our fantastic game is that it creates debate and opinions, and it is important to share those views, in the right way hopefully.

I am not going to make any huge predictions for this season about winning trophies, but I will guarantee one thing. We will be doing everything we can to win, we will not stop talking about winning and expecting to win. I have already said that being promoted to Division One is a major goal for us, as is at least getting to the knockout stage of the Vitality Blast. Only then can we talk about winning at Finals Day.

Let us hope the weather is kind and we can all enjoy a fantastic summer of cricket.

LEFT: James Coles had a breakthrough season and deserved his selection for England Lions’ tour to India during the early part of 2024.

MEN’S SQUAD

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TOM ALSOP

Tom Alsop started last season well, culminating in his career-best of 182* against Leicestershire at Grace Road, but the left-hander’s form dipped before the 28-year-old picked things up with a gritty 79 in the final fixture against Gloucestershire. Alsop experienced something similar in white-ball cricket. After his starring role in the Sharks’ unexpected conquest at the Oval, he managed just one further fifty in the T20 Blast.

ARCHIE LENHAM

Archie signed a contract extension during a busy winter when he toured Australia with England under-19s. The 19-year-old legspinner 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.

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.

After a successful stint in 2023, the Australian paceman return to The 1st Central County Ground this season. McAndrew took 31 wickets in only seven County Championship appearances last season including 5-85 on debut in win over Durham. He also contributed with the bat, with a top score of 65 against Durham. In almost 70 career T20 appearances, he has just under 60 wickets at a respectable average just over thirty.

7

TYMAL MILLS

Mills signed a contract extension in the winter and was named captain for the 2024 Blast and is set for a decade of service to Sussex in the competition, having joined in 2015. Last season’s Blast campaign fell flat for Sussex 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.

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JAYDEV UNADKAT

Indian left-armer Unadkat returns to Hove for the final five games of the 2024 Championship campaign after making a favourable impression during his short stint at the end of 2023. The 32-yearold, who has made more than 100 first-class appearances, played in three games and took six wickets on debut in the victory over Leicestershire at Hove.

ARI KARVELAS

Having bounced around the second XI circuit, South African born Greek international Ari Karvelas had his breakthrough season in 2022. Amidst an injury crisis, Sussex signed the towering seamer on a temporary basis for that year’s One-Day Cup. Seizing his opportunity, Karvelas took 20 wickets - the second most of any bowler - as Sussex reached the semi-finals. Karvelas penned a permanent contract in October 2022 which he extended the following Last season he took 35 Championship wickets. 36

NATHAN MCANDREW 43

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CHARLIE TEAR

After rising through the ranks at Seaford College, wicketkeeperbatter Charlie Tear made his Sussex debut in 2022, facing Durham in a County Championship fixture at The 1st Central County Ground with scores of 24 and 26 and tidy keeping. His maiden half-century would come in the following match against Glamorgan.

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JACK CARSON

Off-spinner Jack Carson is tipped for a big future. At just 23, the Northern Irishman has a century of first-class wickets in just 36 matches, impressing for both Sussex and England Lions.

He took 15 wickets in his four matches, the most of any bowler in that Covid-curtailed 2020 season, and soon solidified his spot at Sussex’s front-line spinner.

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JOFRA ARCHER

It’s been a frustrating few years for Jofra Archer. Since bursting onto the scene with his fiery performances in the 2019 World Cup and Ashes, the boy from Barbados has been troubled by injuries, and seen his time on the field drastically reduced.

Despite his persistent back and elbow issues, Archer, who’s taken 181 first-class wickets for Sussex, extended his contract in September 2023 and, encouragingly, bowled on the pre-season tour to India in March 2024.

DANIEL HUGHES 89

In Daniel Hughes, Sussex have a batter with experience in all three formats. Over a 12-year career the Australian has made over 200 professional appearances for New South Wales and the Sydney Sixers.

In that time, the attacking left-hander has amassed a mountain of runs, with over 4,000 in red-ball cricket and more than 2,000 in both the 50 over and T20 formats.

PUJARA 8

CHETESHWAR

In only two years by the seaside, Cheteshwar Pujara has solidified his position as one of Sussex’s best overseas batters. After signing in 2022, the Indian maestro made an instant impact with five centuries at an eye-catching average of 109.40 in the County Championship. Equally brilliant in 2023, he scored a further three red-ball tons whilst captaining Sussex to their best finish in five years.

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OLI CARTER

Academy product Oli Carter was in excellent form last summer. Present in all 14 County Championship matches, Carter recorded his best ever returns - 779 runs at just short of 40. Scoring seven fifties, the dependable wicketkeeper helped ensure Sussex’s third place finish, crafting some memorable knocks along the way.

HENRY CROCOMBE

Medium pacer Henry Crocombe has been with Sussex since childhood. Featuring as an under-12, Crocombe rose through the ranks and made his senior debut in the Covid-hit 2020 season. Claiming Hampshire’s James Fuller as his first wicket, the Eastbourne local has gone on to make 32 red-ball appearances for his boyhood club, taking 58 wickets. The 22-year-old has also featured heavily in the shorter formats, with 18 appearances in the One Day Cup, and 17 in the T20 Blast.

BRAD CURRIE

In just two years at Sussex, swing bowler Brad Currie has enjoyed several memorable moments. Debuting at Lord’s in 2022, Currie claimed England’s Mark Stoneman as his first victim in first-class cricket. Hungry still, the left-armer took a further five wickets in the innings, leaving his mark with 6-93 at the home of cricket. A spectacular boundary catch against Hampshire in last year’s Blast made him an overnight YouTube sensation and he is now a Scotland regular. He signed a new T20 contract until 2025 last October.

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JOHN SIMPSON

After 16 years, 866 dismissals and over 13,000 runs with Middlesex, wicketkeeper John Simpson joined Sussex on a four-year deal in October. Throughout his time at Lords, Simpson distinguished himself as county cricket’s most dependable pair of gloves, winning two County Championships before receiving international honours during a one-day series against Pakistan.

After a lean few years, Fynn-Hudson enjoyed his best ever season in 2023. Playing in all 14 Championship fixtures, the homegrown all-rounder topped the runs chart with 879 at an average of 48.83, including nine fifties. Entering the fray as a concussion substitute in the season opener against Durham, Hudson-Prentice made an instant impact, taking four wickets Durham’s second innings. He kept his spot for the remainder of the season, providing lower order fireworks mostly at seven.

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SEAN HUNT

Left-arm seamer Sean Hunt joined Sussex from his boyhood club Surrey in 2021.

He has taken 45 wickets in 19 red-ball games and showed his potential in the final game of last season when he took six crucial wickets against Gloucestershire as Sussex won their final match.

At 22, Hunt has plenty of potential, reflected in the two-year contract extension that he was granted in January 2024. 20 33

Over 59 first-class appearances, Tom Haines has cemented his spot as Sussex’s premier opening batter. First appearing in 2019, the aggressive left-hander caught the eye with run-heavy seasons in 2021 and 2022. Scoring over a thousand runs in the former, Haines made headlines in the latter, walloping 243 against Derbyshire. In six years at The 1st Central County Ground, the boy from Crawley has nine first-class centuries and one List-A ton to his name.

OLLIE ROBINSON

Ollie Robinson has become one of the best seamers in world cricket. After years of consistency in the County Championship, the towering seam bowler made his international debut in 2021, claiming seven wickets against New Zealand at Lord’s. Since then his high release point and unwavering accuracy have seen Robinson take more than 70 wickets in his England. From 89 first-class appearances, he can boast 396 wickets at a staggeringly low average of 20.75.

HENRY ROGERS

After making his first team debut last summer, teenager Henry Rogers signed a rookie deal with Sussex alongside fellow youngster Zach Lion-Cachet in October. Yet to appear in the County Championship, T20 Blast or One-Day Cup, Rogers made his senior bow in the National Counties friendly against Oxfordshire when he scored 33 from 75 balls. The promising youngster, who’s frequently featured for Sussex’s second XI and Sussex League champions Cuckfield, made his international debut in August, appearing for England’s under-19 side.

BERTIE FOREMAN

Another exciting prospect, 19-year-old Bertie Foreman made his senior debut in last summer’s One-Day Cup. Batting down the order, the all-rounder hit 35 from 44 balls as Sussex crumbled to 190 all out against Worcestershire.

Although the hosts strolled to victory, Bertie managed to get his first Sussex wicket, and two days later against Warwickshire he offered a glimpse of his potential with a quickfire 28*. 13

JAMES COLES 30

Amongst Sussex’s most exciting young talents, all-rounder James Coles earned heavy praise after a standout season in 2023. Forcing his way into the middle order, Coles made his presence felt with a commanding first century against Glamorgan in May. Continuing his red-hot form, Coles notched over 800 runs in last year’s County Championship, with three centuries and a highest score of 180.

TOM HAINES

FYNN HUDSON-PRENTICE

DAN IBRAHIM

In 2021, Dan Ibrahim became the youngest ever player to score a half-century for Sussex. At just 16, he was also the youngest to ever do so in the County Championship against Yorkshire at Headingley. Another followed the following month, and in 2022 Ibrahim hit his maiden first-class hundred against Glamorgan. His 2023 season was affected by injury but in the One-Day Cup, he claimed two fifties and four wickets in his three appearances. He is contracted until 2026 and will be looking to kick on this season.

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ZACH LION-CACHET

After becoming the first player to score a century in all three formats for Oxfordshire, a teenage Lion-Cachet was selected for Sussex’s One-Day Cup fixture against Worcestershire. Batting four, he crafted a resilient knock whilst his teammates struggled, lasting 50 balls for his 34 runs. Despite only appearing once for the senior side, Lion-Cachet’s sole knock, alongside the two centuries he hit for the 2nd XI in 2023, earned the 20-year-old a rookie contract in October.

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DANNY LAMB

Bowling all-rounder Danny Lamb signed a three-year contract with Sussex in June 2023, leaving his boyhood club Lancashire in pursuit of regular, all-format gametime. After rising through the ranks at Old Trafford, Lamb made his professional debut in May 2017, facing Nottinghamshire in the One-Day Cup. His County Championship bow came over a year later, when he became the first concussion substitute in County Championship history, replacing Joe Mennie against Worcestershire. 40

JAYDEN SEALES 14

After he was forced to withdraw from a stint by the seaside last season, Jayden Seales re-signed with Sussex in November 2023, and will be available from the start of the season until early June, featuring in the County Championship and T20 Blast. Renowned for his pace and aggression, Seales has 37 wickets in only ten tests for the West Indies and a useful T20 record from various franchise tournaments too.

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HARRISON WARD

Harrison Ward is a product of Sussex’s talent development partnership with Oxfordshire. After honing his craft with the minor county, the aggressive left-hander signed for Sussex in 2021, debuting in all three formats in July of that year. Commended for his white-ball ability, Ward featured sporadically until the latter half of last year’s T20 Blast campaign. Opening the batting, the 24-year-old made the most of his six appearances, muscling two fifties against Gloucestershire, home and away.

1924 – AND TATE AND GILLIGAN LAY WASTE TO SOUTH AFRICA

PAUL WEAVER LOOKS BACK ONE HUNDRED YEARS WHEN TWO SUSSEX GREATS COMBINED TO SCUTTLE THE TOURISTS

England fast bowlers are so rare in county cricket that one wonders whether they were presented with Tolkien’s magic ring alongside their first Test cap. It is common for modern fast bowlers, such as Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, to take the vast majority of their first-class wickets in Test cricket.

There is, however, cautious optimism that the centrally contracted Ollie Robinson and maybe even Jofra Archer could be given permission to make occasional appearances for Sussex this season before the summer’s Tests – maybe even operating in tandem.

And that takes us back to a time when it was possible for a leading fast bowler to combine his England and county careers. One hundred years ago, in 1924, the great Maurice Tate had his most magnificent season. For Sussex he achieved his best bowling average of 12.56 for his 150 wickets. He also scored 1,144 runs, with a top score of 164 and an average of 29.33. In all matches that year, he took 205 wickets and scored 1,419 runs.

And then there was what happened at Edgbaston in June, when with Arthur Gilligan, his Sussex and England captain, he bowled South Africa out for 30 – 11 of them extras - still the lowest Test score in England. Seven batsmen were clean bowled and the innings was over in 48 minutes with Gilligan taking 6-7 and Tate,

on his Test debut, 4-12. South Africa, who were replying to England’s 438, were asked to follow on and many latecomers thought they were watching their first innings.

South Africa fared better second time round, making 390, but again it was Gilligan (5-83) and Tate (4-103) who took them down. So the Sussex pair took 19 wickets in the match. Gilligan had the first innings ball mounted in his study in West Chiltington with the maker’s mark still clearly visible – Wisden, another Sussex name.

What happened in Birmingham stirred the imagination and afterwards Gilligan presented Tate with a silver salver, inscribed: “Dear Maurice.” He added: “Please accept this memento as a small recognition of your magnificent bowling against South Africa in the first Test Match in which we have both played in this country when we dismissed them for 30 runs – the lowest score on record for a Test match in any country.”

The only bowler less than happy at Edgbaston was the gifted cricketer Cecil Parkin, who felt he had missed out on the rout. He made some disgruntled remarks which found their way into the newspapers. He later sent a written apology to Gilligan, but would never play for England again.

RIGHT CLOCKWISE: Maurice Tate and Percy Chapman walk out to bat at Headingley in August 1930, during the Test match against Australia; Arthur Gilligan with the England team against the Australians in 1924-25; Maurice clears a ditch during a race with the Brighton Foot Beagles in January 1937; Maurice in 1928 at the Scarborough festival.

Photos: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In the series against South Africa, Gilligan took 17 wickets and Tate 27 – a total of 44 wickets at 16.95 runs, while the other ten England bowlers took 23 at 42.26.

But, at the same time, the pair were at the forefront of Sussex’s County Championship campaign. The 1924 season had got off to a tragic start for the county with the death of their England wicketkeeper George Street who, on his way home to Warnham on his motorbike, was killed when he attempted to avoid a lorry and crashed into a wall. It was a momentous year for the club. James Langridge, old Jim Parks and Kumar Duleepsinhji would make their first appearances and Tate and Gilligan bowled with such vigour that they took the side to the top of the table in June. But at a Gentleman v Players match at the Oval Gilligan was struck above the heart while batting and would never be the same bowler again.

In his wonderful book Sussex Cricket: A History, John Marshall says that Tate, playing against Gilligan in that match, was the first player to reach him. Tate said: “I was fielding at second slip and undid his shirt, trying to revive him. I saw a terrible bruise over the heart and there is no doubt that he should have retired from the game. Instead of that, with immense pluck, he went in to bat in the second innings. What courage the man had! He scored at a tremendous rate.

“When he had reached 96 I gave him one to get his century, a slow off-break on the leg stump. To my astonishment it turned from leg and just missed his off stump. He said to me: ‘What a damned fine pal you are!’ In the next over he hit Frank Woolley over the screen for six. Going in at No 10, he scored 112. Yet, in my humble opinion, if he had not made that historic century, he would have had an even greater cricket career than he did.”

With Gilligan’s powers diminished, Sussex’s form stuttered, and they eventually finished tenth in the table. There was a reminder of the pair’s great threat in August that year, when

THIS IS HOW MY FAVOURITE CRICKET WRITER, RC

ROBERTSON-GLASGOW (“CRUSOE”) DESCRIBED HIS TWO OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY CRICKETERS.

ON TATE:

“After a short, galumphing run, like some policeman easing his conscience by a token pursuit of the uncatchable, Tate hurled into his delivery the harmonised strength of loins, back and fingers, a perfect engine.”

ON GILLIGAN:

“He seemed to run nearly as fast as he bowled, and for a few years in the early 1920s that was very fast indeed.”

Gilligan allowed himself to bowl flat out against Leicestershire, who were dismissed for 113 and 45 to give Sussex victory by an innings.

Tate, meanwhile, went on to become surely the greatest cricketer in the county’s history. For Sussex, he took 2,211 of his 2,784 first-class wickets and scored 17,086 of his 21,717 runs.

In his biography of Tate, and going back to 1924, Gerald Brodribb says: “According to John Arlott, it was during South Africa’s first innings that Tate produced the first of his many famous ‘comments.’ He was standing at short leg near to Bill Reeves the umpire, who noticed between balls that Tate was apparently anxious to make some comment to him, but never found time to achieve it.

“Five balls passed, with each attempt adding to Reeves’ curiosity, but it was not until the end of the over that Tate was able to say what he wanted. He came close to Reeves, put his hand confidentially to his mouth, and said: ‘’Ot, ain’t it?’ Reeves was rendered speechless, but recalled the statement, repeated the story, and thus recorded for posterity the prototype of all Tatisms.”

LEFT CLOCKWISE: Maurice leaves on the train from Victoria to join the England team travelling to Australia for the infamous Bodyline series; A blazered Arthur Gilligan in 1926; Maurice and John Langridge about to umpire a game in 1956.

Pictures: Topical Press/ Hulton Archive/ Getty Images

OBITUARIES

COMPILED BY ROGER

PACKHAM

DAVID ARTHUR STRIPP

DAVID ARTHUR STRIPP, who played 12 first-class matches for Sussex as a professional all-round cricketer from 1956 to 1957, died on 12 May 2023 aged 88. Born at Crawley Down on 4 April 1935, he served on the MCC groundstaff in his teens and joined the county staff in 1953 aged 18. In 1955 James Langridge described his Sussex 2nd XI form as ‘most encouraging, playing six innings before being dismissed which gave him a fantastic average. His bowling was full of life and most promising’. The following year he made his Sussex first-class debut at Worthing when he batted at No 3 and shared in a stand of 47 with David Sheppard.

Stripp’s record for Sussex II in 1956 was an impressive 674 runs at 51.84 and 31 wickets at 14.00. In 1957 he recorded his highest score of 32* v Hampshire at Portsmouth in a stand of 66* with Gordon Potter but failing to get established and with only modest returns for the Second XI his county career ended. In non-first class matches his right-arm fast medium bowling was often effective and he took 3-13 and 5-30 for Sussex v Royal Navy in 1956; 7-29 for Sussex II v Essex II at Hadleigh in 1957 and 6-26 for Sussex II v Essex II at Hove in 1956. His highest innings for the club was for the 2nd XI v Essex II in 1956 when he scored 72*. His club cricket was played

LAURIE CLAYDON

LAURIE CLAYDON died in March 2023, aged 90. He was an extremely well-known and muchadmired figure in Sussex recreational cricket and football for many years. Competition secretary to the West Sussex Invitation League for 32 years, he was recognised by Sussex Cricket in 2019 when he was elected a vice-president of the club. Despite working for Barclays Bank for 39 years and being a devoted family man Laurie’s

for Crawley Down where, after a brief spell at East Grinstead CC, he returned to become a dominant force in local cricket. David also kept goal for Horsham, East Grinstead and Sussex.

KENNETH GEORGE HOPKINS

KENNETH GEORGE HOPKINS died on 1 November 2023 aged 90 and was remembered at a service at Hove Methodist Church on 23 November. Ken was a passionate supporter of Sussex cricket and a widely respected member of the club and the Sussex Cricket Society where he was held in great affection. He will be remembered as the shortest serving chairman of Sussex CCC in 1997 when he took over from Alan Caffyn shortly before the AGM. This was the year of the ‘revolution’ and after the committee resigned en bloc Ken agreed to complete the AGM before handing over after only 11 days in post. He was swiftly made a vice-president by Robin Marlar and continued to be a welcome guest, with his wife Joan, to the committee room. He later became a trustee of the club.

After Ken’s National Service, including the final year of the Korean war in 1953, he commenced a successful career with Southern Electric, helping to launch the Seeboard Trophy for the club in 1989 for five seasons with a sponsorship of £30,000 per annum. Fundraising was one of his many contributions for the club and he was one of the founders and first chairman of Sussex Cricket Supporters Club, a major source of revenue for many years. He was a life member from the early 1970s and elected to the committee in 1983 which he served for 15 years.

Somerset CCC also gained his support, and he was a welcome visitor to Taunton when he visited his holiday home. Ken was a keen golfer and a director of West Hove Golf Club until 2022. In 1991 he was involved with that club’s move to Badgers Way, Hangleton when the old course was developed by Sainsbury’s. He was also on the committee of the Hove Deep Sea Anglers’ Social Club. Former vice-chairman Richard Barrow described him as a ‘tremendous character, fantastic company and an ardent supporter of Sussex cricket’.

contribution to Northbrook Old Boys Football and Cricket Clubs and Chippingdale Cricket Club at Worthing was outstanding. He was fixture secretary for the Worthing Evening Cricket Association for over 60 years; secretary of the Worthing Football League for nearly 50 years, a Sussex FA councillor for 40 years and president of the Brighton, Hove and Worthing Football League.

DAVID PIPER

BRIAN JOHN WINTER

BRIAN

JOHN WINTER from East Dean who died on 6 March 2023 aged 88 will be remembered as an enthusiastic supporter of Sussex cricket and the Sussex Cricket Society. A regular spectator at Hove, Brian travelled to many of the away matches often in the company of Roger Oakes and Peter Miles. He played club cricket for Lloyd’s Register and was a keen collector of autographed cricket material.

DAVID PIPER from Ash, a long-standing member of Sussex Cricket Society, died in December 2023.

ABOVE: David Stripp played cricket and football for Sussex

LEFT: Ken Hopkins, with his wife Joan, pictured on the committee balcony at Hove. A long-standing supporter of the county, Ken had a brief spell as chairman in 1997

BY GARY WALLIS-TAYLER

SUSSEX CRICKET FOUNDATION

2023 was another incredible year for the Sussex Cricket Foundation. Participation across all areas of the game continued to rise and recreational cricket in Sussex has never been in a stronger position. We continue to be held in high regard both locally and nationally, with the ECB describing us as a ‘leading organsiation’ in Disability, Women’s and Girls and Schools Cricket delivery, a fantastic endorsement of the amazing work we continue to do across Sussex.

There were many highlights during 2023 including the launch of the Aldridge@BACA Sussex Women’s Cricket League, significant investment into facilities in Crawley, record numbers at DIScoverABILITY Day and the England LD debut of Alfie Pyle who created history in becoming the 43rd capped player.

This year is already shaping up to be another busy but exciting 12 months for the Foundation. We have many plans in place to continue

providing opportunities for people of all ages, ability and genders to play, access and watch the game. Numbers taking part in Junior Leagues/ Cups and The 1st Central Sussex Cricket League continue to rise. The adult cricket league will have 370 teams across 39 divisions this summer which includes six new clubs.

Our key priorities continue to be around the growth of Women and Girls Cricket, Disability Cricket and our Urban Cricket Plans. There is more facility investment being placed into Crawley this summer, and we are now starting to switch our attention to the various facility issues faced in Brighton & Hove, working closely with the ECB and Brighton & Hove City Council.

State school cricket is another priority area, and our partnership with Brighton Aldridge Community Academy continues to provide state schoolchildren with the opportunity to access high quality cricket provision in a state school setting. We are proud of our relationship with BACA, who continue to feature in The Cricketer magazine’s Top 100 Schools for Cricket in the Country.

In May we have an exciting weekend planned of disability cricket with both our visually impaired and D40 teams having the opportunity to play fixtures at The 1st Central County Ground. We have high hopes for all our county teams this summer. Our ambition is to win trophies, but we also want to continue developing players for England and the Disability Premier League.

Our partnership with the Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation and the wider club continues to grow, and we have another joint event planned for later this summer. It’s important that we create a strong relationship as we’re two of the biggest sports clubs in the south and we want to do more work together. Between us we can create a powerful message to get more people involved in sport.

The Foundation continues to require financial support to help fulfil its aims and objectives.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the Foundation, sponsor any of our activity, volunteer or to simply donate, then please contact me - gary.wallis-tayler@sussexcricket.co.uk

RIGHT: Record numbers attended our annual DIScoverABILITY Day which returns in 2024

FIVE TROPHIES MADE IT A SUCCESSFUL YEAR

BY ALEXIA WALKER, SUSSEX WOMEN’S HEAD COACH

Year on year we are able to talk excitedly about women and girls’ cricket. The progress in advancing the opportunities for females in the sport just keeps on exceeding expectations. The 2023 season saw even more success in the number of players playing professional cricket as well as more opportunities to play competitive cricket across the whole pathway.

The 2023 season began with Sussex successfully defending their regional T20 title at finals day at Hove in May. Young star Mary Taylor featured strongly with the bat and ball, and Sussex were victorious in the final against a strong Hampshire side. This would be the first of five trophies that Georgia Adams lifted in 2023 - three of these were as captain.

Sussex players continued to dominate the professional and international circuit with 14 players representing regional, Hundred or England teams. One of the most pleasing accomplishments was Mary Taylor becoming a regular Southern Vipers player as well as her superb debut in The Hundred when she took a three-wicket haul. The same day her twin, Millie, took a five-wicket haul for the Southern Vipers Academy at Blackstone too.

The Sussex women’s squad has grown to over 30 players during the past few seasons due to the exponential growth of the professional game meaning more and more players are needed throughout the season to fulfil the three competitions we compete in.

This highlights how much depth Sussex have thanks to an excellent pathway overseen by Chiara Green, Alan Perrin, Charlotte Burton, and many other part-time coaches. Last season saw Sussex lift the South Central County Cup for the first time and eight of these players were involved in the Best v Best match at the Ageas Bowl in September.

In the London Championship, the team performed well and pushed for the title until the final round. A strong win against Middlesex was the highlight of that competition with Australian Nicole Faltum hitting her maiden century for Sussex and Lottie Curling taking a wicket with her first ball on debut.

A season where we competed strongly in all three competitions and took home two titles is really something to be proud of. The majority of the team are non-professional and with no fulltime member of staff for the team it makes their achievement even more remarkable. It was great to celebrate these accolades alongside the men’s side at the end of the season too.

As we look forward to 2024 and beyond it is clear that the importance of the women’s game is now firmly at the forefront of cricketing conversation. The change in governance of the professional setup to eight first class counties has been made in order to future-proof it. Sussex are very ambitious that this opportunity to grow as a whole club and offer the best experience to professional players and our supporters is taken seriously and we look forward to seeing how we can keep growing the game here on the south coast.

RIGHT: Sussex’s Mary Taylor was one of 14 players from the county to play professionally last year, and took three wickets on her Southern Vipers debut in The Hundred.

DISABILITY CRICKET

Last year was another fantastic one for disability cricket in Sussex. The game continues to grow and we now have more opportunities than ever for people to access the game.

Across the county we run a popular Super 1s, SEND and Table Cricket programmes through funding from Lord’s Taverners, whom we have a great relationship with. Through these programmes over 1500 young people have had access to cricket delivered by our fantastic team of coaches and, with our thriving disability county teams, there is an accessible pathway for young people and adults to fulfil their potential. In addition to this record numbers, over 650 participants attended our annual DIScoverABILTY Day. This was also supported by over 150 volunteers from 32 organisations to make it another memorable event.

All three of our county teams – Super 9s, D40 & VI Sharks had another successful season. Our Super 9s team regularly played festival fixtures against neighbouring counties to gain valuable playing experiences in a competitive setting. Our D40 team finished a respectable fourth in the D40 Quest League, an improvement on 2022 and included our first ever away win at Lancashire.

Unfortunately, our annual game at The 1st Central County Ground fell victim to the weather despite the heroic efforts of our groundstaff Our VI Sharks continue to impress, and a second place finish in the league was followed by T20 glory after beating Somerset and Lancashire at Finals Day and reaching the BCEW 30-over final.

The success of our teams is now bringing international recognition for our players. Alfie Pyle created history in 2023 where he became

the first ever Super 1s participant to play for England LD. Alfie was awarded England cap number 43 during the winter tour of South Africa, and he went on to play a key role in England’s Tri-Series victory. There was further success for Alfie when he played for the England Hawks who won the Disability Premier League.

There is plenty to look forward to in 2024. Our Super 1s programme has expanded and we are due to launch our first ever VI hub later this month. We have also increased our county teams where we will be operating two D40 Teams who will play in the Quest & Pursuit Leagues. Our ambition is to produce more England players to join Alfie Pyle, Fred Bridges and Liam O’Brien, and more players to participate in the DPL. We had five players involved in the winter training camp programme.

We are delighted that this year we will be running a ‘Disability Inclusion Weekend’ across the weekend of 10-12 May at the 1st Central County Ground. Friday 10th will see the running of our annual flagship event DIScoverABILITY Day, Saturday 11th will see our VI Sharks play at the ground for the very first time in the BCEW Cup Final against Northamptonshire VI. The weekend concludes with our D40 team taking to the field to play Lancashire D40. This will be a memorable weekend and a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase disability cricket and continue to raise its profile.

Our thriving set-up and its success is down to the fantastic delivery team in place and to our key funders, Lord’s Taverners. However, I would like to say a special thank you to our headline sponsors Webtrends Optimize. Their invaluable support has enabled us to fully embed our county teams into Sussex Cricket and start to turn them into elite cricket teams. Webtrends Optimize have shown further support by extending their agreement with the Sussex Cricket Foundation by a further four years, which gives our teams financial security until 2027. A huge thank you to Matt Smith, Ben Charlesworth and Matt Goodchild for their support.

Finally, I would like to say a fond farewell and thank you to Aroop Tanna, who retired from his role as Disability Cricket Manager at the end of 2023. Our success has been down to the hard work, dedication, and commitment from Aroop and his team. He should be proud of everything he has done to make us the best in the country, a sentiment endorsed by the ECB. Tom Belcher has recently replaced Aroop, and we wish Tom all possible success in his new role Gary WallisTayler.

ABOVE: Alfie Pyle passes on some advice at a session for our Foundation’s Super 1s clubs, which provide access for young people with additional needs to regular cricket.

A PLAYER PATHWAY THAT KEEPS PRODUCING

BY KEITH GREENFIELD DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE & PATHWAYS

The player pathway continues to produce players into the professional ranks in both the boys and girls’ pathways.

In my own role I not only oversee both pathways but in 2023 I returned to actively coach the Academy and EPP which has been very enjoyable and fulfilling. The commitment and passion of the coaches to make a real difference has been clear and with smaller numbers to coach the difference is there to see.

Over the last year we have continued to streamline the upper end of our pathways, while keeping a broad open base. This falls in line with the ECB plans in reaction to the ICEC report into cricket.

The numbers of state school players selected has increased within the programme. The state school cricket programme running at BACA is thriving and having an impact across the whole programme while the urban plans in Crawley and Brighton, to increase state school and club cricket opportunities, as well as offer extra free coaching for state school players selected in the pathway, are all making a difference.

Two more Academy players have signed rookie contracts with the club, and we wish Henry Rogers and Zach Lion-Cachet well in their future careers with Sussex. Zac provides another example of the success we are also having with our partnership with Oxfordshire Cricket which I set up ten years ago. Zac follows Harrison Ward and James Coles onto our playing staff from Oxfordshire. Dylan Driscoll and Julian Laird have been selected in our Academy and numerous others are now integrating into our pathway.

We are fortunate to have a strong Independent Schools sector and virtually all of our top state school Academy players will be offered a cricket scholarship if they decide that is in their best interests. This is the game of cricket opening up fantastic opportunities for our players. At times this is used on social media in a negative context, and not as a positive opportunity for the player and his or her family.

Twelve players have been selected in the Academy for the coming year and the majority of the intakes from the last two years made it through onto our professional staff. We have a lot of hard work ahead for the next couple of years with this group and to keep producing high-quality players for the club. Eleven players currently make up our EPP programme that sits beneath or Academy.

The under-18 fixture list is now really the Academy fixture list and, in the summer ahead, we have three Championship matches at Blackstone during The Hundred window so it’s an opportunity to come and see the stars of the future play.

Earlier in 2024 we shared an Academy tour with Kent to experience Sri Lanka and there was also a small batting camp for the remaining players with a couple of our professionals in Mumbai. These experiences are absolutely crucial parts of the development programmes for our future players, so they are able to cope in all environments and conditions.

I look forward to seeing you supporting the club at all levels in the summer ahead.

BY WILL SYMONS

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

NO PROMOTION, BUT PROGRESS MADE

Sussex didn’t get out of Division Two but three wins and third place was their best finish since 2018.

Sussex began their 2023 County Championship campaign with high hopes. After a disappointing few years with the red ball, new head coach Paul Farbrace didn’t shy away from his promotion ambitions, setting his sights on Division One after eight years in the second tier.

Whilst promotion proved elusive, Farbrace oversaw a much-improved season of four-day cricket, as Sussex finished third - their best place for five years, with three wins, ten draws and only one defeat.

Starting brightly, Sussex defeated eventual champions Durham by two wickets in a thriller at The 1st Central County Ground in the opening fixture. Despite conceding almost 400 in their first innings, Sussex bit back with a five-for from Australian paceman Nathan McAndrew on his debut, and a masterful century from the everexcellent Cheteshwar Pujara.

In his first game as captain, the Indian maestro shuffled his bowlers with aplomb, as the visitors capitulated for only 189 in their second innings. Requiring 231 to win, Tom Haines got Sussex underway with a bang, crashing 64 from just 69 balls before the assured Oli Carter took them to victory on a tense final morning.

Sussex hit something of a brick wall after the opening week, drawing their next nine fixtures spread over three months of the season. They went close to winning on a number of occasions and but for the weather they might have beaten Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and

Leicestershire. Taking 20 opposition wickets proved difficult, thanks to a combination of placid pitches and bowling occasionally lacking bite. On the flip side, rain probably saved them from defeat home and away against Yorkshire.

There were a number of individual highlights, however. McAndrew featured in seven matches and took 31 wickets which earned him a return to Hove for 2024. Tom Alsop’s textbook 182 at Leicestershire, or any of Pujara’s three centuries, were other highlights.

May was a particularly exciting month for the Sussex faithful when Steve Smith, the Australian run machine, came to Hove for a brief pre-Ashes stint which attracted plenty of positive publicity. With almost 10,000 Test runs at an average approaching 60, Smith made three appearances as he sharpened up for a busy English summer.

After a couple of dubious lbw decisions in his first two games, Smith put on a show against Glamorgan at The 1st Central County Ground. He looked every bit the batter who has dominated world cricket for the past decade, scoring 11 sumptuous boundaries against a side which included his international teammates Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser.

Yet it was teenager James Coles who grabbed the headlines in the star-studded affair, which also featured England’s Ollie Robinson. Batting in tandem with Smith, Coles clipped and drove his way to 138 in a commanding display of classical batting that impressed the player at the other end.

At only 19, the product of Sussex’s decade-long partnership with Oxfordshire scored over 800 red ball runs, averaging over 40 with three centuries to his name. He was joined at the top of the run charts by Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who found his feet after an injury-ravaged couple of years with nine half-centuries from the lowermiddle order.

Both were in the runs as Sussex enjoyed their second and third wins of the season in September. With victory needed to keep their promotion hopes alive, they each contributed a half-century as Sussex beat Leicestershire by just 15 runs, although the game was overshadowed by the disciplinary issues which saw Sussex deducted 12 points for crossing the ECB’s threshold during the season, having

been docked five earlier in the season for a slow over-rate.

Despite needing a gargantuan 499 to win, the Foxes fell just short thanks to a masterclass in consistency from overseas signing Jeydev Unadkat. With defeat looming, the experienced Indian seamer took 6-94 and won the game with a searing yorker to remove Chris Wright.

Greece international Ari Karvelas was also in the wickets, as he’d been for most of the summer. In only his second season, the towering paceman was consistent and took 35 wickets in his eight appearances to finish as leading wicket-taker.

Although Karvelas was suspended for the final fixture, Sussex managed to win thanks to a strong all-round performance against Gloucestershire. Alsop, Coles, and Tom Clark were all in the runs whilst Brad Currie, Sean Hunt and Jack Carson shared the wickets in a 339-run victory at The 1st Central County Ground.

“I was reasonably pleased with where we finished, I think we showed good progress,” said Farbrace. “It was nice to win three games, but equally, you always want to win more. One more season in Division Two will put us in a really good position to challenge for promotion in 2024.”

ABOVE: Tom Alsop drives elegantly through the off-side during the drawn game with Worcestershire at The 1st Central County Ground.

ABOVE: There’s no disguising Ari Karvelas’s delight after he dismisses Leicestershire’s Rishi Patel during our win at The 1st Central County Ground.

SUSSEX (21PTS) BEAT DURHAM (6PTS) BY 2 WICKETS

Toss: Sussex, who elected to field

Umpires: Billy Taylor & James Middlebook

Match referee: Mike Smith

Scorers: Graham Irwin & William Dodson

DURHAM 1st Innings 2nd Innings

1 AZ Lees* b Garton 79 c Carter b Crocombe 17

2 MA Jones c Carson b Crocombe 87 c Carter b Hunt 4

3 BS McKinney c Pujara b Crocombe 35 c Carter b Crocombe 4

4 DG Bedingham b McAndrew 10 c Alsop b Hudson-Prentice 15

5 OG Robinson† c&b Carson 30 c Clark b Hudson-Prentice 58

6 G Clark lbw b McAndrew 47 c Carter b Crocombe 1

7 JJ Bushnell c Crocombe b McAndrew 27 lbw b McAndrew 16

8 BA Carse c Orr b Carson 14 c Carter b Hudson-Prentice 36

9 BA Raine c Clark b McAndrew 10 not out 21

10 MJ Potts c Carter b McAndrew 8 c Crocombe b Hudson-Prentice 4

11 MP Kuhnemann not out 5 c Carson b Crocombe 0

b 1 lb 7 wd 0 nb 16 24 b 4 lb 3 wd 0 nb 6 13

Overs 80.2 Overs 54 Wkts 10 Total 376 Wkts 10 Total 189 Fall of 1st 1-142 2-213 3-224 4-232 5-291 2nd 1-30 2-37 3-42 4-62 5-63 Wickets Inns 6-325 7-346 8-356 9- 366 10-376 Inns 6-92 7-163 8-172 9-188 10-189 BOWLING Ovs

SUSSEX (7PTS) DREW WITH YORKSHIRE (9PTS)

Toss: Sussex, who elected to bat

Umpires: Neil Pratt & Rob White

Match referee: Steve Davis

Scorers: Graham Irwin & John Potter

1 AGH Orr run out

Toss: Gloucestershire, who elected to field Umpires: Billy Taylor & Mark Newell Match referee: Phil Whitticase Scorers: Adrian Bull & Graham Irwin SUSSEX 1st Innings

1 AGH Orr  c Bracey b Zafar Gohar 36

2 TJ Haines  c Hammond b de Lange 3

3 TP Alsop  c Dent b Dale 67

4 CA Pujara c van Buuren b de Lange 151

5 JM Coles  st Bracey b Zafar Gohar 74

6 OJ Carter † not out 59

7 Hudson-Prentice not out 29

8 NJ McAndrew did not bat

9 JJ Carson did not bat

10 HT Crocombe did not bat

11 SF Hunt did not bat

b 10 lb 10 wd 0 nb 16 36 Overs 109.2 Wkts 5 dec Total 455

Fall of 1st 1-9 2-58 3-158 4-302 5-408 Wickets Inns

BOWLING Ovs Md R Wk wd nb

de Lange 24 4 78 2 0 0

T. Price 23 5 115 0 0 7

Dale 22 6 53 1 0 1 Zafar

LEICESTERSHIRE (8 PTS) DREW WITH SUSSEX (12 PTS)

LEICESTERSHIRE V SUSSEX

Toss: Leicestershire, who elected to field

Umpires: Hassan Adnan & James Middlebrook

Match referee: Alec Swann

Scorers: Paul Rogers & Graham Irwin AT LEICESTER, 11-14 MAY, 2023

SUSSEX 1st Innings

1 AGH Orr lbw b Mulder 20

2 TGR Clark b Mulder 23

3 TP Alsop not out 182

4 CA Pujara * c Handscomb b Scriven 77

5 SP Smith lbw b Mulder 3

6 JM Coles c Hill b Scriven 70

7 OJ Carter† c Ackermann b Wright 5

8 Hudson-Prentice lbw b Scriven 1

9 A Karvelas b Wright 3

10 HT Crocombe c Patel b Mulder 18

11 BJ Currie lbw b Mulder 0 b 6 lb 16 wd 2 nb 4 28 Overs 118.3

Wkts 10 Total 430

Fall of 1st 1-42 2-53 3-189 4-198 5-367

Wickets Inns 6-372 7-377 8-394 9-426 10-430

BOWLING Ovs Md R Wk wd nb Wright 29 8 88 2 0 0

Hull 17 2 67 0 2 0

Mulder 24.3 7 63 5 0 0

Davis 15 4 55 0 0 0

Scriven 22 3 75 3 0 0

Ackermann

Total 348 Wkts 7 dec Total 447

Fall of 1st 1-6 2-28 3-47 4-119 5-120 2nd 1-143 2-143 3-147 4-147 5-178

Wickets Inns 6-142 7-201 8-253 9-338 10-348 Inns 6-260 7-410

BOWLING Ovs Md R Wk wd nb Ovs Md R Wk wd nb

Leach 24 4 78 6 0 2 27 5 127 1 0 3

Gibbon 18.4 5 62 1 0 0 16 4 54 0 0

2 JD Libby c Clark b Karvelas 198 c Alsop b Carson 3

3 Azhar Ali

(8PTS) DREW

Toss: Glamorgan, who elected to bat Umpires: Hassan Adnan & Neil Bainton Match referee: Jason Swift

Andrew K. Hignell & Graham Irwin

SUSSEX (7PTS) DREW WITH DERBYSHIRE (7PTS)

SUSSEX V DERBYSHIRE

Toss: Derbyshire, who elected to field

Umpires: Hassan Adnan & Suri Shanmugam

Match referee: Mike Smith

Umpires: Graham Irwin & Jane Hough

lb 9 wd 0 nb 18 27 b 4 lb 3 wd 0 nb 6 13

Overs 101.2 Overs 90.3 Wkts

92.1 Wkts

Toss: Sussex, who elected to bat

Umpires: Billy Taylor & James Middlebrook

Match referee: Mike Smith

who

483

Having

overs) by Derbyshire At Hove

Runs in a day

On the final day of the Sussex v Derbyshire match at Hove, 552 runs were scored.

Extras

Sussex conceded 64 extras (28 byes, 15 leg byes, 9 wides and 12 no balls) in Glamorgan’s first innings of 737 at Hove.

16 hundreds were scored against Sussex

12 Sussex players were dismissed for a duck on 17 occasions. 3: A Karvelas; 2: TP Alsop, HT Crocombe; 1 DK Ibrahim; 1: JJ Carson, TGR Clark, JM Coles, BJ

Currie, F Hudson-Prentice, NJ McAndrew, CA Pujara.

A total of 20 opposition players were dismissed without scoring.

SIXES BY SUSSEX PLAYERS (69)

12: F Hudson-Prentice; 10: AGH Orr; 8: JJ Carson, JM Coles; 6: CA Pujara; 5: NJ McAndrew, HJ Shipley; 4: TJ Haines; 3: OJ Carter; 2: A Karvelas , GHG Garton, OE Robinson; 1: TGH Clark, SPD Smith.

103 sixes were hit off the Sussex bowling DUCKS

NOTEWORTHY PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUSSEX

169 for 5th TP Alsop (182*) & JM Coles (70) v Leicestershire at Leicester

155 for 4th TP Alsop (79) & JM Coles (128) v Gloucestershire at Hove

150 for 7th TP Alsop (100*) & JJ Carson (75) v Worcestershire at Hove

150 for 1st TGR Clark (96) & TJ Haines (86) v Derbyshire at Hove

144 for 4th CA Pujara (151) & JM Coles (74) v Gloucestershire at Hove

143 for 1st TGR Clark (54) & TJ Haines (91) v Worcestershire at Hove

143 for 5th SPD Smith (89) & JM Coles (138) v Glamorgan at Hove

136 for 3rd TP Alsop (182*) & JM Coles (70) v Leicestershire at Leicester

120 for 2nd AGH Orr (67) & TGR Clark (51) v Durham at Chester le Street

117 for 7th CA Pujara (117) & F Hudson-Prentice (54) v Worcestershire at Worcester

113 for 5th JM Coles (180) & DK Ibrahim (36) v Derbyshire at Hove

112 for 5th CA Pujara (115) & OJ Carter (41) v Durham at Hove

110 for 1st TGR

BY WILL SYMONS

VITALITY BLAST

IMPROVEMENT, BUT SHARKS FALL SHORT

After losing ten games in 2022, the Sharks had a better Blast last year but they still looked short of emulating the successful teams of recent years or challenging some of the heavyweights in the South Group.

The days when the Sharks could field a team with Phil Salt, Jofra Archer, Laurie Evans, Chris Jordan, Rashid Khan and Luke Wright in it are just fond memories now and with only one win at The 1st Central County Ground, the home campaign never took off.

On occasions though a young side put up a decent fight, winning six of their 14 games to finish sixth, a marked improvement on the ten defeats of 2022.

After losing their opening game, they hit back with a startling victory at the Kia Oval. Three wily wickets from captain Ravi Bopara stopped a star-studded Surrey in their tracks, as the hosts were dismissed for 148 with three balls unused.

Sussex won by five wickets, thanks to a valuable 77-run partnership between Tom Alsop and Michael Burgess, who returned to the county from Warwickshire on loan during the Blast. The former kept the scoreboard ticking whilst the latter acted the aggressor, muscling seven boundaries in his 28-ball 48.

Burgess, who had previously represented Sussex from 2016-19, enjoyed a fruitful loan, contributing consistently with bat and the gloves. He passed 300 runs in his 14 appearances, and only captain Bopara, who managed 408 at an average of 37.09, scored more runs.

Helming a young side, Bopara led from the front with three fifties and a blistering century – his first in the Blast – against Kent at the end of June. Punishing a wayward Spitfires attack, the 38-year-old scored 108 from only 53 balls as the Sharks won in Canterbury. His contributions with the ball are also worth a mention. With the ball, Bopara proved himself a crafty operator by mixing his pace up, taking eight wickets in his 13 appearances.

Oli Carter put on a show at The 1st Central County Ground in the only home win against Hampshire, crashing four sixes on his way to 63 as Sussex fashioned a defendable total. Bradley Currie then grabbed three wickets and took a world-class catch to steal the headlines. Defying gravity, he removed Hampshire’s Benny Howell with a one-handed, diving effort on the backward square leg boundary.

Overseas signing Shadab Khan was also crucial as the Sharks improved in the second half of their campaign. After taking four crucial wickets against Gloucestershire, the leg-spinning all-rounder thumped 87 not out from just 53 balls the next day against Glamorgan, leading Sussex to victory

on both occasions. Khan’s 12 wickets represented a respectable effort from the Pakistani star. Only Tymal Mills, with 18, had more.

World Cup winner Mills enjoyed an excellent campaign and showed his experienced in a close victory at Lord’s against Middlesex. With one over remaining, the hosts required 12 runs to win. Cool as a cucumber, Mills bowled Luke Hollman with a deviously disguised slower-ball yorker, before closing out the final five deliveries to secure victory.

Despite a thumping fifty from opener Harrison Ward, the Sharks lost their final fixture at home to Gloucestershire, but they had at least begun the game with a slim hope of finishing in the top four.

This summer they will be led by the experienced Mills, providing he is not part of England’s plans in the World Cup.

RIGHT: A worrying moment during the Somerset game at The 1st Central County Ground when Shadab Khan and Nathan McAndrew collided going for the ball. Both had spells out of the team because of concussion protocols.

RIGHT: Delight for Tymal Mills as he dismisses Kent’s Sam Billings at The 1st Central County Ground. Mills finished with 18 Blast wickets and at the start of 2024 was named captain for this season.

1 Tom Clark c Gregory b Overton 8 5

2 Ali Orr c&b Gregory 33 18

3 Tom Alsop c van der Merwe b Overton 9 6

4 Ravi Bopara* not out 88 49

5 Shadab Khan c Gregory b van der Merwe 9 8

6 Michael Burgess† c Overton b Henry 17 23

7 George Garton c Abell b Henry 0 1

8 Nathan McAndrew c Gregory b Siddle 8 5

9 James Coles c van der Merwe b Henry 4 5

10 Fynn Hudson-Prentice not out 1 1

11 Tymal Mills b 0 lb 0 wd 4 nb 2 6 Overs 20 Pens Wkts 8 Total 183 SOMERSET Runs

1 Tom Banton† c Orr b Mills 32 15

2 Will Smeed c Clark b Garton 10 11

3 Tom Kohler-Cadmore c Coles b Mills 72 42

4 Tom Abell run out (Coles) 42 34

5 Tom Lammonby c Coles b Mills 1 7

6 Lewis Gregory* not out 6 6

7 Ben Green not out 5 2

8 Roelof van der Merwe

9 Craig Overton

10 Matt Henry

11 Peter Siddle

1 Adam Rossington† c Garton b Crocombe 3 10

3 Dan Lawrence c Hudson-Prentice b Mills 19 10

4 Matt Critchley c Alsop b Shadab Khan 9 8

5 Paul Walter c Bopara b Shadab Khan 0

6 Robin Das not out 31 26

7 Daniel Sams b Garton 8 7

8 Tom Westley c Carter b Shadab Khan 2 4

9 Simon Harmer* not out 21 17

10 Shane Snater

SUSSEX SHARKS

1 Tom Clark  c Lawrence b Cook 0 2

2 Tom Haines  c Walter b Cook 8 10

3 Tom Alsop  c Walter b Snater 17 14

4 Ravi Bopara * c Snater b Walter 50 31

5 Shadab Khan  b Walter 20 17

6 Michael Burgess † c Walter b Cook 26 22

7 James Coles  c Allison b Critchley 7 5

8 Nathan McAndrew  c & b Critchley 1 2

9 Fynn Hudson-Prentice  c Harmer b Cook 7 7

10 Tymal Mills  c Harmer b Sams 5 4

11 Henry Crocombe  not out 2 3

b 0 lb 1 wd 3 nb 0 4

Overs 19.3

Pens Wkts 10 Total 147

1 Adam Rossington † c McAndrew b Mills 35 17

2 Dan Lawrence  c Coles b McAndrew 0 2

3 Michael Pepper  lbw b Shadab Khan 48 26

4 Robin Das  c Coles b Bopara 0 3

5 Paul Walter  c Crocombe b Mills 2 5

6 Matt Critchley  not out 25 22

7 Daniel Sams  not out 29 16

8 Simon Harmer* did not bat

9 Shane Snater did not bat

10 Ben Allison did not bat

11 Sam Cook  did not bat

b 0 lb 1 wd 5 nb 4

SUSSEX SHARKS Runs BF

1 Tom Clark  b Higgins 39 28

2 Michael Burgess † c Davies b De Caires 5 9

3 Tom Alsop  c Davies b Andersson 3 3

4 Ravi Bopara * c Andersson b Helm 38 26

5 Shadab Khan  c Andersson b Higgins 59 30

6 Danial Ibrahim  c Cracknell b Hollman 1 3

7 Nathan McAndrew  lbw b Hollman 0 2

8 James Coles  not out 21 13

9 Fynn Hudson-Prentice  run out (Andersson) 7 6

10 Tymal Mills did not bat

11 Henry Crocombe did not bat

b 1 lb 3 wd 4 nb 0 8

Overs 20 Pens Wkts 8 Total 181 MIDDLESEX (Target: 129) Runs

1 Stephen Eskinazi * not out 94 62

2 Joe Cracknell  c Coles b Hudson-Prentice 1 2

3 Pieter Malan  b Bopara 36 29

4 Max Holden  c Clark b McAndrew 18 12

5 Jack Davies † c Coles b McAndrew 19 10

6 Luke Hollman  b Mills 3 3

7 Martin Andersson  not out 0 2

8 Ryan Higgins did not bat

9 Joshua De Caires  did not bat

10 Tom Helm did not bat

11 Blake Cullen  did not bat b 1 lb 3 wd 2 nb 0 6

Overs 20

Pens Wkts 5 Total 177

Toss: Sussex, who elected to bat

Umpires: David Millns & Rob Bailey. TV Umpire: Russell Warren Match referee: Peter Such Scorers: Don Shelley & Graham Irwin Result: Sussex won by 4 runs

2 Daniel Bell-Drummond c Karvelas b Bopara 38 31

3 Joe Denly c Burgess b Karvelas 0 3

4 Sam Billings*†

6 Jack Leaning not out 28 26

7 George Linde

8 Grant Stewart

9 Wes Agar

10 Fred Klaassen

11 Michael Hogan

Runs BF

SUSSEX SHARKS

1 Harrison Ward  c Smale b van der Gugten 7 5

2 Tom Clark  c Smith b van der Gugten 24 13

3 Oli Carter  c McIlroy b van der Gugten 4 4

4 Ravi Bopara * c Cooke b McIlroy 4 7

5 Shadab Khan  not out 87 53

6 Michael Burgess † b Gorvin 29 22

7 James Coles  b McIlroy 20 15

8 Fynn Hudson-Prentice  not out 2 1

9 Aristides Karvelas did not bat

10 Tymal Mills did not bat

11 Bradley Currie  did not bat

b 0 lb 4 wd 1 nb 0 5

Overs 20

Pens Wkts 6 Total 182

GLAMORGAN

10 7

4 Ravi Bopara * not out 11 14

5 Shadab Khan  not out 28 14

6 Michael Burgess † did not bat

7 James Coles did not bat

8 George Garton did not bat

9 Aristides Karvelas  did not bat

10 Henry Crocombe  did not bat

Runs BF

1 Kiran Carlson * c sub b Currie 0 1

2 Sam Northeast  c Ward b Bopara 44 30

3 William Smale  b Mills 25 15

4 Cam Fletcher  c Ward b Hudson-Prentice 57 40

5 Chris Cooke † run out (Shadab Khan) 13 11

6 Timm van der Gugten

c Ward b Shadab Khan 4 9

7 Andrew Salter  c Coles b Mills 2 3

8 Andy Gorvin  c Hudson-Prentice b Currie 10 7

9 Ruaidhri Smith  not out 2 3

10 Peter Hatzoglou  not out 2 1

11 Jamie McIlroy did not bat

1 Tawanda Muyeye  b Karvelas 1 4

2 Daniel Bell-Drummond  retired hurt 13 12

3 Alex Blake  c Burgess b McAndrew 30 13

4 Sam Billings *† run out (Burgess) 11 8

5 George Linde  run out (Burgess) 13 4

6 Jordan Cox  not out 37 16

7 Jack Leaning  not out 0 3

8 Grant Stewart did not bat

9 Joey Evison did not bat

10 Matt Quinn did not bat

11 Michael Hogan  did not bat

4

3

3

3

AGAINST SUSSEX

94* (10 fours, 1 six) off 92 balls

93 (13 fours, 3 sixes) off 51 balls

82* (6 fours, 5 sixes) off 44 balls

SIXES BY SUSSEX PLAYERS (88)

19: Shadab Khan; 15: Ravi Bopara; 11: Harrison Ward; 8: Michael Burgess;

Cardiff

Stephen Eskinazi For Middlesex at Lord’s

Laurie Evans For Surrey at Hove

Jordan Cox For Kent at Hove

Noteworthy individual scoring (other than above)

7: Oli Carter, Tom Clark; 5: Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Nathan McAndrew; 3: Tom Alsop, Ali Orr; 2: James Coles; 1: Henry Crocombe, Tom Haines, Daniel Ibrahim.

A total of 87 sixes were hit against Sussex.

NOTEWORTHY PARTNERSHIPS

FOR SUSSEX

98 for 3rd

For Sussex against Hampshire at Hove, Oli Carter scored 64 off 33 balls including six fours and four sixes.

For Sussex against Middlesex at Lord’s, Shadab Khan scored 59 runs off 30 balls including four fours and five sixes.

Oli Carter (64) & Ravi Bopara (30) V Hampshire at Hove

91 for 4th Ravi Bopara (38) & Shadab Khan (59) V Middlesex at Lord’s

AGAINST SUSSEX

157 for 2nd Laurie Evans (93) & Sam Curran (68) For Surrey at Hove

145* for 1st Ben McDermott (69*) & James Vince (71*) For Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl

104 for 3rd Tom Kohler-Cadmore (72) & Tom Abell (42) For Somerset at Hove

4-20

Economical bowling

For Somerset at Hove, Roelof van der Merwe bowled 4-0-15-1.

Hat-trick

Simon Harmer of Essex took a hat-trick at Hove. His three victims were Tom Alsop, Shadab Khan and Michael Burgess.

Fielding

For Somerset at Hove, Lewis Gregory took four catches in the Sussex innings

Injuries

Glamorgan’s Eddie Byrom retired hurt on 17* at Hove; Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond retired hurst on 13* at Canterbury; Ravi Bopara bowled five deliveries of an over against Gloucestershire at Hove. Harrison Ward completed the over; Against Somerset at Hove, Nathan McAndrew and Shadab Khan collided on the outfield going for a catch. Shadab left the field but McAndrew was able to bowl his four covers after passing a concussion protocol.

METRO BANK

ONE-DAY CUP

YOUNGSTERS GET THEIR CHANCE

After reaching the semis in 2022, Sussex struggled in the 50 overs format last year although some young players enhanced their reputations.

After unexpectedly reaching the semi-finals in 2022 Sussex supporters had hoped the 50-over

format would offer something of a saving grace after a disappointing Vitality Blast campaign.

But it was a lacklustre campaign. Sussex only won one of their eight fixtures – and none at Hove – and lost the other seven to finish bottom of the group.

Donning a bright pink shirt, Sussex ended up with red faces after a clinical Durham side smashed 427 at The 1st Central County Ground in the opening game. Alex Lees hit the visitors’ highest one-day score whilst David Bedingham struck their fastest century.

Sussex managed 295 in reply and aside from a blistering 34-ball 65 by Fynn Hudson-Prentice there was little to enjoy – and there would be more heavy defeats to come.

With the bat only Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Tom Haines held their own. The latter got Sussex off to a few flying starts and hit four halfcenturies but failed to convert any into hundreds. The 24-year-old fell to a wild slash after carving his way to 65 against Durham, an outcome which rather summed up a frustrating campaign for the left-hander.

As was to be expected the excellent Pujara stood out again, amassing 378 runs at an average of 76.80 whilst his colleagues struggled. Pujara’s two centuries, against Northamptonshire and Somerset, were a shining reminder of the Indian’s quality in a campaign when no other batter reached three figures.

The second century, a composed 117 not out at Taunton, helped the visitors to their sole win against a Somerset team ravaged by call-ups to The Hundred. After restricting Somerset to 188, Pujara, assisted by Tom Alsop and Ollie Carter, chipped away at the target before thumping three consecutive fours in the 47th over. Pujara then watched Jack Carson clip the winning runs as Sussex claimed victory with four wickets to spare in the penultimate over.

Last year’s leading wicket-taker, Ari Karvelas, appeared only twice so the bulk of the bowling workload ended up being on the young shoulders of Henry Crocombe, Sean Hunt and Carson.

Off-spinner Carson found his rhythm to take 12 wickets at an average just under 30. His figures of 4-83 in the opener against Durham’s

aggressive batters represented a determined effort, whilst his two dismissals at Northampton took Sussex agonisingly close, before Justin Broad snatched victory for the home side.

Sussex came within a whisker of a win in their final fixture too. Hosting Warwickshire, Haines, Daniel Ibrahim and a revitalised Tom Alsop all battled to fifties on a tricky batting track, whilst 19-year-old Bertie Foreman ended the innings 28 not out in only his second senior appearance.

An equally resilient bowling effort saw Warwickshire nine down with Crocombe, Hunt and Ibrahim all taking two wickets before Danny Briggs, against his former county, saw the Bears to a one-wicket win in the final over.

On the bright side, Foreman’s cameo offered a hopeful glimpse to Sussex’s future. Fellow teenagers Charlie Tear and Zach Lion-Cachet also debuted. The former kept tidily whilst Lion-Cachet made 34 against Worcestershire at New Road.

With only one home win in the Blast as well there wasn’t much for Sussex fans to get excited about at the 1st Central County Ground. Improvement in both competitions will be high on Paul Farbrace’s list of priorities in 2024.

BELOW: In a disappointing 50-overs campaign, Jack Carson finished leading wicket-taker and here celebrates the dismissal of Gloucestershire’s James Bracey at The 1st Central County Ground.

LEFT: Cheteshwar Pujara on his way to a hundred against Somerset at Taunton in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, one of two centuries he scored in the competition in 2023.

b Crocombe 36 55

8 Tom Taylor  not out 42 23

9 Justin Broad  not out 22 16

10 Jack White did not bat

11 Simon Kerrigan did not bat b 0 wd 0 lb 3 wd 7 10

Overs 43.4

Pens Wkts 7 Total 243

Toss: Sussex, who elected to bat

Umpires: Anthony Harris & Surendiran Shanmugam

Match Referee: Jason Swift

Scorers: Terry Owen & Graham Irwin

Result: Northamptonshire won by 3 wickets

nb 0 13

Overs 48.1

3 Colin Ingram

5 Kiran Carlson* b Carson 18 13

6 Ben Kellaway b Coles 30 20

7 Alex Horton† lbw b Hudson-Prentice 9 12

8 Zain-ul-Hassan not out 26 18

9 Timm van der Gugten

10 Jamie McIlroy

11 Prem Sisodiya

b 0 lb 9 wd 2 nb 2 13

Overs 46.3

Pens Wkts 6 Total 278

Toss: Sussex, who elected to bat

Umpires: Anna Harris & Nigel Llong

Match Referee: Steve Davis

Scorers: Graham Irwin & Chris Monk

Result: Glamorgan won by 4 wickets

& Peter Hartley

Match Referee: Jason Swift

Scorers: Sue Drinkwater & Graham Irwin

Result: Worcestershire won by 8 wickets BOWLING

130 balls

106 (7 sixes, 8 fours) off 54 balls

102 (7 sixes, 6 fours) off 54 balls

101 (3 sixes, 9 fours) off 82 balls

100 (2 sixes, 9 fours) off 106 balls

SIXES BY SUSSEX PLAYERS (28)

7: Fynn Hudson-Prentice;

Andrew Umeed for Somerset at Taunton

Jack Taylor for Gloucestershire at Hove

David Bedingham for Durham at Hove

Curtis Campher for Somerset at Taunton

Ed Barnard for Warwickshire at Hove

SECOND XI COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

April 11-13: Sussex v Kent at Blackstone: Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.

April 17-20: Hampshire v Sussex at Ageas Bowl: Hampshire 195 & 231, Sussex 223 & 204/6. Sussex won by 4 wickets.

James Coles’ aggressive 60 saw Sussex to victory. Sussex used nine bowlers in Hampshire’s second innings and seven of them took a wicket.

April 24-27: Middlesex v Sussex at Radlett: Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.

May 8-11: Sussex v Essex at Horsham. Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.

June 20-23: Glamorgan v Sussex at Abergavenny: Sussex 116 & 307, Glamorgan 368 & 59/2. Glamorgan won by eight wickets.

Sussex never recovered from a poor first innings.

Charlie Tear top scored with 32 and he made 119 in the second innings and Zach Lion-Cachet 73 but no one else got more than 30.

July 3-6: Somerset v Sussex at Taunton Vale: Somerset 335/8 dec. & 192, Sussex 429/6 dec. & 101/1. Sussex won by 9 wickets.

Sussex’s top three of Harrison Ward (95), Tom Haines (97) and Lion-Cachet (102*) gave them a 94-run first-innings lead and Jamie Atkins (5-41) helped set up victory. The target was knocked off in 13.2 overs by Ward and Haines.

July 10-13: Sussex v Surrey at Horsham: Surrey 523, Sussex 133 & 196. Surrey won by an innings and 194 runs.

Bertie Foreman’s five wickets and Charlie Tear’s half-century were the only highlights against a strong Surrey side.

September 4-7. Northamptonshire v Sussex at Peterborough: Northants 111 & 360, Sussex 429 & 49/2. Sussex won by eight wickets. Lion-Cachet made 111 and Tear 99 to help give Sussex a first innings lead of 318 before spinners Bertie Foreman and Archie Lenham got to work on a wearing pitch to set up a third win of the season.

September 11-13. Sussex v Glamorgan at Blackstone: Glamorgan 210 & 165, Sussex 621/8 dec. Sussex won by an innings and 246 runs. Ward, Lenham and Henry Rogers all made hundreds in Sussex’s imposing total before Brad Currie (6-44) swept through Glamorgan’s second innings batting and end the season with a convincing victory.

SECOND XI T20

May 15: Sussex v Surrey at The 1st Central County Ground: Sussex 188/8, Surrey 149/8. Sussex won by 39 runs.

Ravi Bopara skippered a strong side and made 62 (37 balls) in a comfortable victory.

May 16: Kent v Sussex at Polo Farm Canterbury (double header): Sussex 113, Kent 116/4. Kent won by 6 wickets. Kent 158/5, Sussex 159/6. Sussex won by 4 wickets.

A victory apiece with Bopara’s 48 helping Sussex win the second game with a ball to spare.

May 19: Surrey v Sussex at New Malden : Sussex 177/9, Surrey 171/7. Sussex won by 6 runs.

A ninth-wicket stand of 42 by Tymal Mills and Archie Lenham got Sussex to a competitive total before Mills took two wickets and Brad Currie three to help seal a narrow win.

May 23: Middlesex v Sussex at Richmond: Sussex 324/7, Middlesex 130. Sussex won by 194 runs.

In an astonishing assault, Bopara hit 14 fours and 12 sixes in a brilliant 144 off just 49 balls. George Garton (53 off 20) contributed to a fourth-wicket stand of 119 from 34 deliveries. Bopara struck 38 off the 15th over bowled by Josh De Caires with four sixes and two fours. There was also a no ball and four byes. It was the highest T20 score in a Second XI game by Sussex. Bopara then took 4-32 to complete a memorable day.

May 24: Sussex v Essex at Horsham: Essex 184, Sussex 186/5. Sussex won by 5 wickets. Both teams were strong but Sussex eased to victory with three overs to spare with Shadab Khan (42), Bopara (47) and James Coles (30*) making good contributions after Fynn HudsonPrentice had earlier taken 4-34.

May 30: Sussex v Middlesex at Horsham: Sussex 181/7, Middlesex 185/4. Middlesex won by 6 wickets.

Revenge for Middlesex after their pummelling a week earlier with Jack Davies’s 87 from 47 balls decisive.

May 31: Essex v Sussex at Southend: Sussex 213/7, Essex 206/4. Sussex won by 7 runs. Daniel Ibrahim’s blistering 80 off 37 balls (7 sixes) set up victory in fast-scoring conditions.

June 2: Hampshire v Sussex at Ageas Bowl: Hampshire 172/7, Sussex 135. Hampshire won by 37 runs.

A third defeat was a blow to Sussex’s hopes of making Finals Day with only Ibrahim, who top scored with 48, making much headway chasing a tough target.

June 6: Sussex v Hampshire at Horsham: Sussex 139/8, Hampshire 143/4. Hampshire won by 6 wickets.

Harrison Ward made 41 but lacked support as Sussex missed the chance to overtake Hampshire and top the group.

POINTS TABLE

It is now nine seasons since Championship cricket last took place at Horsham – let’s hope Sussex return to Cricketfield Road one day. This picture was taken during the game against Somerset in 2013 when Steve Magoffin took 8-20 as Somerset were routed for 74 on the first day and Sussex went on to win by an innings and 116 runs.

(Photo: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

12

THE FOLLOWING HAVE EACH SCORED ONE CENTURY FOR SUSSEX

N Arif, DR Briggs, MGK Burgess, OJ Carter; P Cartwright, PP Chawla, A Collins, JM Cotterill, LJ Evans, R Fillery, DJ Foreman, AHH Gilligan, HW Greenwood, FH Guttridge, HE Hammond, JRP Heath, SP Hoadley, C Howard, WA Humphreys, KJ Innes, WG Khan, DRC Law, MP Lucas, J Major, WJ Malden, HS Malik, JA North, G Osbaldeston, DMW Rawlins, OE Robinson, AEW Parsons, Nawab of Pataudi, C Payne, H Phillips, ACS Pigott, OP Rayner, DA Reeve, HE Roberts, M Rizwan, WGM Sarel, JGC Scott, KA Sellar, DJ Semmence, HL Simms, GA Stannard, GB Street, CG Taylor, JWA Taylor, LRPL Taylor, WA Tester, AH Trevor, CL St J Tudor, AC Watson, L Williams, RH Willson, AK Wilson, L Winslow, GN Wyatt, SAA Zaidi, B Zuiderent

1,000 RUNS IN A SEASON FOR SUSSEX

20 times James Langridge

18 times JM Parks (2,000 x3)

17 times John Langridge (2,000 x10); KG Suttle (2,000 x1)

15 times EH Bowley (2,000 x4) 14

G Cox, Jnr (2,000 x1)

JH Parks (2,000 x1)

10 times TE Cook (2,000 x1); MW Tate; EH Killick; AP Wells

9 times CB Fry (2,000 x4); ASM Oakman (2,000 x1), MW Goodwin

8 times KS Ranjitsinhji (2,000 x4); AE Relf; DV Smith,

6 times CJ Adams; LJ Lenham (2,000 x1); GD Mendis; PWG Parker; RR Relf; CM Wells

5 times ER Dexter; KS Duleepsinhji (2,000 x2); GA Greenidge; C Oakes

4 times HT Bartlett; MA Buss; HP Chaplin; PJ Graves; AW Greig; RJ Langridge; RR Montgomerie; CD Nash; HL Wilson

3 times CWJ Athey; JRT Barclay; GC Cooper; AHH Gilligan; AM Green; VWC Jupp; EC Joyce; NJ Lenham; DS Sheppard (2,000 x1); DM Smith; MP Speight; AF Wensley

twice BC Brown, G Brann; JW Hall; RB Heygate; AJ Holmes; Imran Khan; A Melville; WL Murdoch; W Newham; RM Prideaux; MJ Prior; LWP Wells; KC Wessels; MH Yardy

once G Bean; MG Bevan; PA Cottey; G Cox, Snr; MJ Di Venuto; AIC Dodemaide; GHG Doggart; MJJ Faber; TJ Haines; PGH Fender; RDV Knight; G Leach; RSC

INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE

Our partnership invests in the future of Sussex Cricket and its facilities, helping to ensure future generations enjoy fantastic cricket in our county while safeguarding the commercial integrity of the world’s oldest professional sports club.

We’re committed to promoting inclusivity and accessibility in sport and thrilled to extend support for the Sussex D40 and Visually Impaired squads as they compete at the highest level, and Sussex Cricket Foundation’s DIScoverABILITY Day.

We’re excited for the 2024 season and another year of fantastic cricket at The 1st Central County Ground. Good luck to all the Sussex squads!

Headquartered in Haywards Heath, 1st Central is one of the UK’s top-selling car insurance brands with 1.25 million customers, and employees around 1,200 people.

BOWLING

NOTE: This feat has been performed against Sussex on four occasions - in 1862 by J Wells for Kent; in 1924 by HA Peach for Surrey and in 1972 by PI Pocock for Surrey (Pocock went on to take five wickets in six balls and, in all, seven wickets in 11 balls) and in 2014 by AC Thomas for Somerset.

HAT-TRICKS FOR SUSSEX

NOTE: James Langridge took four wickets in five balls against Somerset (Weston-Super-Mare) in 1948; Imran Khan took four wickets in five balls against Derbyshire (Eastbourne) in 1981. JD Lewry took five wickets in seven balls, six in ten balls and seven in 13 balls against Hampshire (Hove) in 2001. The feat of taking three wickets in four balls has been performed for Sussex on 36 occasions.

(Hove) 1971

Northamptonshire 6-29 (40) PW Jarvis (Hove) 1995

Nottinghamshire 7-41 (40) AN Jones (Trent Bridge) 1986

Somerset 5-42 (50) JC Archer (Taunton) 2016

Surrey 5-15 (40) JA Snow (Hove) 1972

Warwickshire 6-27 (45) MH Yardy (Edgbaston) 1995

Worcestershire 5-33 (40) K Newell (Worcester) 2005

Yorkshire 4-15 (40) Imran Khan (Sheffield) 1985 AGAINST SUSSEX

(60)

Essex 5-22 (40) Danish Kaneria (Colchester)

Glamorgan 5-17 (60) JG Thomas (Cardiff)

Gloucestershire 5-10 (40) MJ Procter (Arundel)

Hampshire 6-47 (50) LA Dawson (Ageas Bowl)

Kent 6-12 (40) DL Underwood (Hastings)

(60)

BY BRUCE TALBOT

EDITOR’S NOTE

I’d like to start by again thanking chair Jon Filby for his support of the Yearbook and his continued recognition of its importance not only is it a valuable historical record of Sussex cricket, but that it gives a sense of where Sussex cricket stands in 2024, not only the ‘shop window’ of the first XI but also that the game played at all levels across the county continues to thrive.

We look back a century in this edition as Paul Weaver remembers two titans of Sussex cricket, Maurice Tate and Arthur Gilligan, and their exploits for club and country in 1924. Looking ahead, Jon, our new Chief Executive Pete Fitzboydon and Head Coach Paul Farbrace write about their hopes and ambitions for 2024.

As usual the Yearbook wouldn’t have come together without the input and support of many people.

In no particular order, my thanks to Norman Epps for contributing notes on the season and

updating the records section. If he completes two more editions Norman will bring up his own half century. David Stoner and Roger Packham have meticulously checked and re-checked the scorecards and I thank them for their dedication and diligence. Roger also wrote the obituaries while Ali McCreedy supplied some of the images and Will Symons the profiles and competition reviews.

Grateful thanks to Jamie Burnett for organising the contributions from the club and to Gavin Graimes and Justin Staveley at O&G for their design and production work and for acting on feedback which will hopefully make the 2024 edition an easier read.

I write these notes a couple of weeks before the first pre-season game of 2024 as the squad prepares to head to India for a training camp. I’m sure you will share my best wishes for the coaches and players. Let’s hope the 2025 yearbook is celebrating 12 months of success on the pitch for Sussex cricket.

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