Zone INTRODUCING THE
A dedicated space for Sharks fans to turn up early and enjoy the build-up to Blast games!
LOCAL LIVE MUSIC
Warm up for the game with live music and entertainment
KIDS ACTIVITIES
SPECTATOR INFORMATION
CLUB SHOP AND NEW FOR 2024 THE SHARK POP-UP SHOP
As usual our Club Shop will be open from 5:30pm until the start of the 2nd innings. And new for 2024 is the Shark Pop-Up Shop, open during the same time, but located at the North end of the ground.
FOOD OFFERS
Great food and drink offers that won’t break the bank.
Plus, plent of activities for kids while you soak up the atmosphere!
AND SO MUCH MORE!
FREEBIES
Make sure you keep an eye out for all of the freebies we’ll have available to you. These include hairy headbands, Vitality Blast glasses and your 4 & 6 cards to help you celebrate every boundary. These giveaways can be collected in the Shark Zone.
FOOD AND DRINK
We know Sharks get hungry! Around the ground you will find a number of amazing food units, as well as numerous places to get yourself hot and cold drinks.
Check out the map on Page 3 to see where the food units are located.
FAMILY FUN
Kids can show their support for the Sharks by having their faces painted in Sussex colours, you’ll find the face-painting station located at the Cromwell Road End of the ground, located by the family and general stand.
Children aged 5-14 can also join our Foundation coaches in the FamZone for a range of cricket-based activities.
The FamZone will be in action from when gates open to the start of the 2nd innings.
SMOKING AND VAPING
Out of respect to fellow supporters we would remind you that smoking and vaping is only permitted in the outer perimeter road and strictly not within the seating areas of the venue. Thank you for your cooperation.
CRICKET IS FOR EVERYONE
Sussex is for everyone. Cricket is for everyone. Call it out! That’s why we are committed to our zero-tolerance policy when it comes to discrimination, anti-social behaviour and abuse in all its forms.
If you witness racist or homophobic abuse, or any form of discrimination or anti-social behaviour, you can anonymously text ‘SHARKS’ to 07840852792, including any details of the incident.
LOW ALCOHOL STAND
There is a low alcohol stand located in the north of the ground next to the family stand, which also includes a small section of seating where no alcohol is allowed. All tickets are allocated, and these areas need/should have been requested at the time of booking. Please contact a steward if you need assistance.
DARING TO DREAM
With a quarter-final place secured, Sharks skipper Tymal Mills reflects on his first season as captain and praises the great stridesthe team has made in 2024.
Tymal, your thoughts on a brilliant Blast campaign so far?
I’m absolutely delighted with where we are at, having secured a quarter-final spot with two games to go. Hopefully we can get over the line and get a home quarter-final which would be great.
I’m really proud of how the boys have played over the last month or so. We’ve made great strides as a team and we’ve won a lot of games by big margins. It hasn’t been the case of sneaking home in close games. There’s a lot of confidence around the team both in four-day cricket and in white ball cricket and long may that continue.
Captaincy seems to have gone pretty well for you –how have you found that experience?
I’ve loved the experience of captaining so far. It’s obviously much easier and much more enjoyable when you’ve got players that are playing good cricket, it makes my job much easier.
I’ve just been trusting my instincts as much as I can on the field and I’ve been enjoying the off the field side of things too, like the planning with the coaches and the analyst, Luke Dunning, looking at player match ups.
I’m quite an analytical person so I feel as though that’s suited me quite well. I’ve been proud to lead the boys out every week.
We’ve made great strides as a team and we’ve won a lot of games by big margins. It hasn’t been the case of sneaking home in close games. “
What has been the main difference you have seen in the players this season, compared to last?
The main difference if I’m being honest is that we’ve added skill, particularly with the bat. We’ve put a big emphasis on it in the winter with players learning to access more parts of the ground and we’ve spent a lot of time on that in the Indoor School and throughout pre-season. It’s been great to see the boys have the confidence to take that out into the games. We’ve now got a batting unit that can hit more areas of the ground than last year, which makes us harder to bowl at.
With the ball we’ve tried to keep it as simple as we can. We’ve still had occasions where we’ve got it wrong and gone around the park, but that happens in T20 cricket. We’re still an improving side and we’ve got a lot of players that are still young and have got a lot of room to grow in their game, so it’s a really exciting time for the club.
It’s been another fruitful campaign with the ball for you how do you feel as though you have performed?
I’m really happy with how I’ve bowled this campaign. My bowling was one thing that I was really conscious of not letting slip with the captaincy. I still needed to lead from the front and I’m happy with how I have done that so far.
It’s something I take pride in, being a front-line bowler and bowling a lot of overs and trying to get the other teams’ best players out and I’ll keep trying to do that and fingers crossed when we get to the big games in the knockout stages that will be something I’ll keep trying to do.
It appears to have been a real team effort this season, with everyone chipping in at different stages – how much of an advantage can that be heading into the quarters and maybe Finals Day?
Absolutely, we’ve mentioned it in the changing room many times ourselves that we’ve had a lot of players stepping up and doing jobs at different times. We have many players in good form, which helps us not just rely on one person. Dan Hughes has been outstanding, but even in games when he hasn’t scored runs, other players have stepped up. Also, in matches that I haven’t taken wickets we’ve had other guys take over as well.
It has genuinely been a team effort and we are playing really good cricket as a team.
We have really strong belief within the squad that we have that there are multiple players who can win us games.
You’ve won so many domestic trophies, and of course the World Cup – can we win the Blast?
Of course! Our expectation is now that we can win the Blast and that is one thing I have spoken about all the way through. Our expectation now is to win every game and we turn up believing that we can, and we should win, which is a great place to be.
We’ve got a lot of players playing with confidence and we’ve done it enough now throughout the group stages that I hope everybody genuinely believes that we can beat whoever we come up against. It is just a case of being smart on the day. We are daring to dream and to lift that trophy at Edgbaston in September would be a special feeling.
sussexcricket.co.uk/sussex-cricket-foundation
FIXTURES & RESULTS
