Post by Admin on Apr 28, 2021 12:51:11 GMT
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The club was founded in 1839 as a successor to the various Sussex county cricket teams, including the old Brighton Cricket Club, which had been representative of the county of Sussex as a whole since the 1720s. The club has always held first-class status. Sussex have competed in the County Championship since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.[1]
The club colours are traditionally blue and white and the shirt sponsors are Aerotron for the Specsavers County Championship, Parafix for Royal London One-Day Cup matches and Boundless for NatWest Blast T20 matches. Its home ground is the County Cricket Ground, Hove. Sussex also play matches around the county at Arundel, Eastbourne and Horsham.
Sussex won its first ever official County Championship title in 2003 and subsequently became the dominant team of the decade, repeating the success in 2006 and 2007. In 2006 Sussex achieved ‘the double’, beating Lancashire to clinch the C&G Trophy, before winning the County Championship following an emphatic victory against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, in which Sussex defeated their hosts by an innings and 245 runs.[2] Sussex then won the title for the third time in five years in 2007, when in a nail-biting finale on the last day of the season,[3] Sussex defeated Worcestershire early in the day and then had to wait until past five o'clock as title rivals Lancashire narrowly failed to beat Surrey – prompting relieved celebrations at the County Cricket Ground, Hove.[4] Sussex enjoyed further limited overs success with consecutive Pro40 wins in 2008 and 2009 as well as beating Somerset at Edgbaston to lift the 2009 Twenty20 Cup. The south coast county ended the decade having won ten trophies in ten years.
On 1 November 2015, Sussex County Cricket Club (SCCC) merged with the Sussex Cricket Board (SCB) to form a single governing body for cricket in Sussex, called Sussex Cricket Limited
he County Cricket Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as The 1st Central County Ground,[1] is a cricket venue in Hove, East Sussex, England. The County Ground is the home of Sussex County Cricket Club, where most Sussex home matches since 1872 have been played, although many other grounds in Sussex have been used. Sussex CCC continue to play some of their games away from The County Ground, at either Arundel Castle and Horsham. It is one of the few county grounds to have deckchairs for spectators, in the Sussex CCC colours of blue and white,[2] and was the first cricket ground to install permanent floodlights, for day/night cricket matches and the second ground (after Edgbaston) to host a day/night match in England, in 1997.[3]
Prior to 1872, Sussex County Cricket Club played their home matches at Royal Brunswick Ground. The land for the County Ground was a barley field until it was bought in 1871. The turf from the Royal Brunswick Ground was then brought to the County Ground, which became the home of Sussex CCC in 1872, and continues to be so.[4]
In 1872, George "Farmer" Bennett became the first batsman in first-class cricket to be given out handled ball during a match between Kent and Sussex at the County Ground.[5] In 1873, Sussex bowled Worcestershire out for 19 at Hove.[6] In 1884–85, the public raised £4,400 towards the purchase of the ground, with the Earl of Sheffield contributing an additional £600.[7] In the 20th century, the ground was used for some other cricket matches, such as a charity match in 1927 between the "Jockeys" and the "Racing Press", in aid of the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital,[8] and an annual match between local commercial travellers and grocers, nicknamed "Travellers v. Grocers"; in 1925, the match was won by the Travellers by 1 run.[9]
The ground has hosted one men's One Day International;[4] the match was part of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and was a Group A match between South Africa and India, which South Africa won by 4 wickets.[10] The County Ground has also hosted 2 Test matches in The Women's Ashes in 1987 and 2005;[11] in addition, the ground hosted two One Day Internationals in the 2013 Women's Ashes,[12] As of 2017, 5 Women's ODIs and 4 Women's T20Is have been hosted at the ground.[13][14]
In 2003, The County Ground was the venue where Sussex won their first County Championship title. In that match, Sussex batsman Murray Goodwin also scored 335*, which was then highest score by a Sussex player in first-class cricket.[17] The ground also saw Sussex win their third Championship title in 2007.[19]
FAMOUS SUSSEX PLAYER
Edward Ralph Dexter, CBE (born 15 May 1935)[1] is a former England international cricketer. An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and a right-arm medium bowler, he captained Sussex and England in the early 1960s. He is known by the nickname Lord Ted.
LANCS VIEW
fter a freezing cold opening week draw against Sussex at Emirates Old Trafford was curtailed by snow, the Red Rose have won back-to-back games at home to Northamptonshire and away at Kent last week.
The innings and five-run win, secured after tea on day four on Sunday, was played out on a flat Canterbury surface and took a Herculean effort to bowl the hosts out twice.
Matt Parkinson claimed a career best seven wickets in the second innings, leading many of the players to take to social media and laud the win’s significance.
Rob Jones, for example, said the win was his “best to date” as Lancashire moved top of Group Three.
Another win in the South this week will cement that position and put the county on course for an all important top two finish in the group.
With Yorkshire sitting second, it has already brought into focus the potential importance of the two Roses clashes at Old Trafford and Scarborough, the first of which is at the end of next month.
But there is a lot of cricket to be played before then.
Can Sussex halt Lancashire’s winning run?
Team News
Jimmy Anderson remains sidelined with the calf injury which ruled him out of last week’s win at Kent, a fixture which had been earmarked for his return to county action.
But there is good news on Liam Livingstone. He is back in contention having returned home early from the Indian Premier League.
Sussex, meanwhile, are likely to have Anderson’s England team-mate Jofra Archer available at some point soon as he recovers from elbow and fingers injuries. But this week will come too soon for the devastating fast bowler who will not be going to the IPL.
Opposition view
Since drawing with Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford in the opening round of the season, Sussex have won one and lost one.
They beat Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in the second round of fixtures and then lost to Yorkshire at Hove last week in a low-scoring fixture which was nip and tuck all the way.
Opener Tom Haines has started the season in fine form, building on his 155 at Old Trafford, with an 87 against Glamorgan and 86 against Yorkshire.
Left-arm quick George Garton and Irish off-spinner Jack Carson both claimed the wicket of England Test captain Joe Root last week and impressed.
The Hove pitch proved two-paced last week and took more spin as the game wore on.
In the second innings, Irish spinner Jack Carson claimed five wickets for Sussex and Dom Bess six wickets for Yorkshire as they defended a 235 target to win by 48 runs.
Matt Parkinson will be licking his lips!
Previous meeting
The two sides played out a high-scoring draw during the freezing cold opening week of the season at the start of the month.
Sussex, having elected to bat, slumped to 14-3 and 40-4, only for Tom Haines to underpin their recovery to 301 all out on day two with a third career century.
Then, it was the Dane Vilas show. His special 189, supplemented by fifties for Alex Davies and Rob Jones, secured a lead of 100 at 401 all out.
Unfortunately, weather, including final day snow meaning only 36 overs were bowled, took significant time out of the game, and Sussex finished on 103-2.
Tom Bailey and Saqib Mahmood both took four wickets in the match.
What they said
Luke Wells says he is in a “good place” with his game as he prepares to return to the county who released him last summer.
Top order batter Wells, 30, joined Lancashire almost immediately after a successful spell at Hove came to a challenging conclusion in 2020.
A player with 18 first-class centuries for the South Coast county, dating back to 2011, Wells fell out of favour and did not play at all last summer.
But both he and the Red Rose county are confident in his ability to find top form once more.
After a pre-season hamstring injury - suffered doing hill sprints up Rivington Pike - left-handed Wells debuted for Lancashire in last week’s win at Kent, making an encouraging 45 from number three.
Part of Wells’ bid to re-ignite his career has seen him adopt a more relaxed attitude to the game.
“I got a bit wrapped up with technique in the past and was a bit up and down in my mental headspace. I got a bit low on myself when I wasn’t producing results,” he explained. “It’s just about having that perspective that whatever happens, this is my passion.
“I have been working really hard on my game and feel in a really good place.
“Funnily, when I’ve had injuries in the past, I’ve ended up having some of my best seasons immediately afterwards. I have no doubt that I can get back to my best.”
Wells expects his return ‘home’ to feel “odd” this week should he retain selection. But he insists there is only one target, and it will not be proving a point to his former employers.
“I’ve thought about it a lot,” he said.
“There are other players who have left Sussex over the years and never actually played against them. Chris Nash, for example, when he was at Notts.
“It will be odd, but I’m just approaching it as another game. There’s no point bigging it up in my head.
“The most important thing is it’s a chance to get points in the bag towards the aims and goals we have here at Lancashire - firstly, finishing in the top two in the group.
“I’m just going to focus on that.”
And, of course, Wells will have the inside track on many of his former team-mates, though added: “I do have a fair bit of knowledge about their guys. But, at the end of the day, you have to control your own game as individuals. That is the best way to defeat any opposition.”
