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14-man squad named for El Clasicoast opener

18 Jul 2019

Jason Gillespie has named a 14-man squad for Friday's Vitality Blast opener against Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl. 

After reaching the final in 2018, the Sharks will be hoping to start this year's campaign with victory in El Clasicoast, before two huge fixtures at The 1st Central County Ground next week. 

Luke Wright's side have been boosted by the news Rashid Khan is available for the first ten south group fixtures, and he goes straight into the squad to face Hampshire.

Khan, who is the world's number one T20 bowler, took 17 wickets in a Sharks shirt last summer, and he will be hoping to build on that tally when he begins his second season at Sussex. 

Laurie Evans, who was the tournament's leading run-scorer in 2018, will also be hoping to build on his form from last year. He scored 614 runs, hit a high score of 96 and had a strike rate of 136 en route to Finals Day - and after a winter in T20 leagues across the globe, will be integral to the Sharks again this term. 

Chris Jordan has been rested with a sore knee following the Specsavers County Championship match against Lancashire, while Alex Carey is unavailable for Friday's match due to his involvement with the Australia 'A' squad.

Sussex Cricket director of cricket Keith Greenfield said: “After his excellent showing in the World Cup, it is no surprise that Alex is involved in Australia's warm-up fixture and is also in contention for a place in Australia’s Test team for the forthcoming Ashes series.

“Given this situation, we’ve been making contingency plans should Alex be unable to join us for this year’s Vitality Blast. If they become necessary, we would be able to implement these plans very soon after Australia’s Ashes squad is announced."

Sussex Sharks squad

Luke Wright (c), Will Beer, Danny Briggs, Ben Brown (wk), Laurie Evans, Harry Finch, Rashid Khan, Tymal Mills, Delray Rawlins, Ollie Robinson, Phil Salt, Aaron Thomason, Reece Topley, David Wiese

Opposition

Hampshire finished second bottom of the South Group in 2018, but boast a side who have a strong pedigree in white-ball cricket after reaching the One-Day Cup final in successive years. 

With James Vince and Liam Dawson in their squad, Hampshire have two World Cup winners to call upon, and Dawson was their leading run-scorer in last year's tournament. 

With the ball, Chris Wood was his side's most effective bowler, taking 19 wickets with an economy rate of 7.61, and he will be supported by South African bowling all-rounder Chris Morris, who is Hampshire's overseas signing for this year's Vitality Blast. 

Hampshire squad

Kyle Abbott, Brad Taylor, Tom Alsop (wk), Rilee Rossouw, James Fuller, Lewis McManus, James Vince (c), Liam Dawson, Sam Northeast, Aneurin Donald, Chris Morris, Mason Crane, Chris Wood, Ryan Stevenson

Match Details

Play will get underway at 7pm, with tickets still available to purchase here or via telephone on 0844 847 1863. 

If you're unable to attend, you can follow all the action via our Match Day Centre or via our social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. The match will also be shown live on Sky Sports. 

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