Fifties for Luke Wright and Ben Brown on hard-fought first day against Leicestershire

There were half centuries for Luke Wright and Ben Brown on an absorbing first day of Sussex’s Specsavers County Championship match against Leicestershire.

Wright bounced back from his first ball dismissal at Edgbaston last week in emphatic style.

The 33-year-old was solid in defence, industrious when running between the wickets and ruthless against the bad ball during an innings of 88, the 38th fifty of his first-class career.

Coming in at 53-2 with the Leicestershire bowlers on top, Wright first combined with Stiaan van Zyl in a 63-run fourth wicket partnership.

Van Zyl passed 10,000 career first-class runs during his innings. The South African had been made to work hard to reach 44 and was clearly frustrated when he was caught in the slips off left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson in the fiftieth over.

That brought Ben Brown to the crease and the captain had made 15 when Wright passed his fifty.

The pair’s fifty partnership came up soon after tea and their patience was rewarded as the runs began to flow more freely against Leicestershire’s second string bowlers.

Just after Sussex had secured their first batting bonus point, Brown brought up his second fifty in as many innings.

The second new ball swung the momentum back in the home side’s favour, however, with Brown caught in the slips off Mohammed Abbas for 64.

Five overs later, Wright also departed – 12 short of his century- as Ben Raine got one to nip back and sneak between bat and pad onto the off stump.

Ollie Robinson fell to the very next ball as he offered no stroke to a very similar delivery from the seamer and Wright and Brown’s hard work looked like being undone.

Michael Burgess and nightwatchman, Ishant Sharma, were able to see out the remaining overs in the day and guide Sussex to the close on 254-7.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Sussex endured a tough morning session earlier in the day.

Openers Luke Wells and Phil Salt received very few bad balls as they battled through the first hour. Wells faced 25 balls in scoring two runs, and had been hit on the helmet by Abbas before he edged Raine to wicket-keeper Lewis Hill.

If that was a straightforward take for Hill, the catch he took to dismiss Salt off Abbas in the following over was anything but, a thick edge flying towards first slip, but the wicketkeeper took it beautifully two-handed to his right.

In the final over before lunch Harry Finch drove at a Neil Dexter out-swinger, failed to keep the ball down, and saw Colin Ackermann take a smart catch at gully.

Reflecting on his innings and the state of the game at the end of day one, Luke Wright said: “I was pretty nervous after getting a first-baller last week, against Warwickshire, so it was nice to get a few. We were in a bit of trouble at 52-3, and at 254-7 it’s pretty hard to say who has got the advantage – it’s probably honours even.

“Abbas is a good bowler, he’s always at the stumps and there’s a bit of swing both ways, so it was a case of trying to get through the early spells. Then they came back well with the new ball, Ben Raine always challenges you, but we stuck at it too.

“I felt in a little bit of a bubble, in a really good place – as though it was going to take a good ball to get me out, and in fairness Ben Raine bowled one! It would have been nice to have got a hundred here at the club where I started, but after last week I’d have taken 88. 

“There was a little bit there for Parkinson, so hopefully as the game goes on and if the sun stays out there’ll be a bit there for Beery [Will Beer] too.”