Jofra Archer named in squad for visit of Kent

Jofra Archer could play his first first-class match for Sussex since September 2018 after being named in a 13-man squad for the LV= Insurance County Championship against Kent that gets underway at The 1st Central County Ground on Thursday.

Archer is joined in the squad by George Garton, who returns after being rested for the match against Northamptonshire last week. The pair replace Joe Sarro and Jamie Atkins, with the latter being rested.

George Garton returns after being rested for the trip to Northampton

After a heavy defeat at Wantage Road, Ian Salisbury’s side will be looking to recapture the spirit of their prior performances when they take on Group 3’s bottom side.

At the halfway stage of the group stage of this year’s tournament, Sussex are fifth in Group 3. The team have gained 51 points from a win, a draw and three defeats so far, putting them seven behind fourth-placed Glamorgan and 35 behind second=placed Yorkshire.

After ten matches, the top two teams in each of the competition’s three groups will go into division one to battle for the Championship title over the course of four more rounds. Those in third and fourth will compete in division two, and the fifth- and sixth- placed sides will finish their season in division three.

Tom Haines remains Sussex’s top run scorer, with 492 from his ten innings to date, putting him fifth overall and 75 runs behind the Championship’s leading run-scorer, Durham’s David Bedingham.

Only Somerset’s Craig Overton (32) and Gloucestershire’s Ryan Higgins (28) have more wicket’s than Sussex’s Ollie Robinson. Both have played a match more than the England hopeful. Robinson’s average of 13.80 is the best among all bowlers to have taken at least five wickets so far this season.

Sussex squad

Ben Brown (captain/wicketkeeper), Jofra Archer, Jack Carson, Tom Clark, Henry Crocombe, George Garton, Tom Haines, Travis Head, Stuart Meaker, Delray Rawlins, Ollie Robinson (vice-captain), Aaron Thomason, Stiaan van Zyl

View from the coach’s office

Ian Salisbury on this week’s squad: “Any team in world cricket would be excited to name Jof[ra Archer] in their squad for a game. Everybody is aware of his talents.

Jofra Archer's last first-class match for Sussex was against Warwickshire in September 2018

“George [Garton] comes back in after we gave him last week off as part of our policy of rotating players. Based on how he has been in training over the last couple of days it was definitely the right thing to do. He’s been buzzing and full of energy and comes back into the squad reinvigorated.

“Similarly, Crocs [Henry Crocombe] was away with us in Northampton but didn’t play and that gave him the opportunity to work with our S&C guys to make sure he got the right amount of rest. He’s also looked really fresh while bowling in training over the last couple of days. Jamie Atkins is rested this week. He could play if he had to, but he reported sore shins up at Northampton so didn’t play up there and it is the right thing to do with a young man.

“A good illustration of why we rotate guys like this is how Ollie Robinson bowled at Northampton. He was outstanding and was able to bowl long spells and was aware of how much fresher he felt having missed the Yorkshire game the week before.”

Ollie Robinson took his 16th first-class five-wicket haul against Northamptonshire last week

On the defeat at Northamptonshire and the squad’s reaction: “Prior to last week, I genuinely believe that the team and each individual involved had been getting better with each game. This was the first time we didn’t show the same, but you can learn from it. It’s only a loss if you don’t learn from it.

“We were brutally honest with each other after the game and during the last couple of days. I was looking for a reaction from the guys and I’ve seen the guys train really well these last few days as they revisit what they can do well and look at what they can do to get better.

“Delray [Rawlins] and Clarky [Tom Clark] going off to play in the seconds straight after getting back on Sunday night shows that desire to get better. They both had time in the middle and were able to work on a couple of technical things. The willingness among these young guys to get better and learn has been very apparent.

“Travis [Head] has had a week with us to have a good look. He’s done a lot of observing and listening and it’s clear he is ready to go, not just as a player, but as an influencer within the side.”

In the nets with Travis Head 💥

A week of hard work as we look to bounce back against Kent tomorrow! 👊 pic.twitter.com/n7TEM4y3dW

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) May 12, 2021

On the visit of Kent: “It’s always nice to play derbies against your local rivals and our boys are still smarting after what happened at Canterbury last year! Everyone is really looking forward to this one.

“Despite their position in the group, Kent are a very good side. As a coach of mine always used to say, ‘beware of good players that haven’t been scoring runs or taking wickets.’ This game is a chance for one of us to put in a good performance and get ourselves back up the group table.

“We’ve done our homework, are fully prepared and know the style of cricket we want to play. It’s been a tough schedule over the last six weeks, but this is another exciting challenge, and we can’t wait.

On playing one more game behind closed doors at The 1st Central County Ground: “It’s still been great to play at Hove on some absolutely cracking cricket wickets that Ben and his team have prepared, but we’re desperate to get people back. There are guys in the squad who have never played in front of a crowd. Jack Carson is about to play his tenth first-class game and he’s never has his mum and dad come to a game! It will make it so much better to see everyone back in the ground.”

Opposition

Kent are the only side in Group 3 without a win in the opening five rounds of this year’s Championship. Three heavy defeats against Yorkshire, Lancashire and Glamorgan and two draws against Northants and in the return fixture at Headlingley leave Sussex’s eastern neighbours at the bottom of the table with 38 points.

Their most recent fixture was a heavily-rain impacted draw away at Yorkshire, which after the washing out of all of day three and part of day four meant that there was only time for each side to bat once. Zak Crawley was Kent’s top-scorer with 90 in a team total of 305, while Nathan Gilchrist, playing only his second first-class match, took four wickets in Yorkshire’s reply of 321.

With 258 runs from his nine innings, England Test player Crawley is Kent’s second leading run-scorer behind wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson, who has ten more runs from one less visit to the middle. There are three other Kent batsmen with over 200 runs. Twenty-year-old Jordan Cox has 254 (just 16 more than he made in a single innings against Sussex in last summer’s Bob Willis Trophy), 45-year-old Darren Stevens has 230, while stand-in skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond has 216. Stevens & Bell-Drummond are the only Kent men with centuries so far this summer.

Six of Sussex's squad for the Kent match (Jack Carson, Tom Clark, Henry Crocombe, Tom Haines, Aaron Thomason, Delray Rawlins) weren't born when Darren Stevens made his first-class debut in May 1997

The evergreen Stevens leads the way with the ball for head coach Matt Walker’s side with 15 wickets at an average just over 20. His 5 for 53 in the 10-wicket defeat against Glamorgan in the fourth round of matches was his the 30th five-wicket haul of his 313-match first-class career. Matt Milnes is the only other Kent bowler with at least ten wickets, his ten scalps coming at an average of 36.6.

Milnes missed the trip to Headingley with an ankle injury that will also keep him out of this week’s fixture. There are five other Kent squad members unavailable through injury; Heino Kuhn (calf), Harry Podmore (side), Tim Groenewald (knee), Imran Qayuum (shoulder) and Grant Stewart (abdomen).

Joe Denly is unavailable for personal reasons, while club captain Sam Billings remains in quarantine after returning from the IPL.

Sussex pathway graduate, Tawanda Muyeye is part of a 13-man squad travelling to The 1st Central County Ground having signed terms with Kent at the start of the season.

Kent squad

Daniel Bell-Drummond (captain), Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Miguel Cummins, Nathan Gilchrist, Fred Klaasen, Jack Leaning, Tawanda Muyeye, Marcus O’Riordan, Hamid Qadri, Matt Quinn, Ollie Robinson (wicketkeeper), Darren Stevens.

Match information

Play is scheduled to begin at 11am on all four days of the match. The match will be played behind closed doors in line with government requirements. 

Supporters can watch a live stream of the action, with commentary from BBC Sussex’s Adrian Harms and the team from BBC Kent, on the Sussex Cricket Match Centre. This also includes a live scorecard, video clips of key moments and match statistics.

Information regarding spectators at Sussex’s match against Northamptonshire at The 1st Central County Ground starting on Thursday 27th May was released yesterday and is available here.