Nottinghamshire vs Sussex - Day One Report

England’s Josh Tongue picked up a second consecutive five-wicket haul at Trent Bridge as Nottinghamshire dismissed Sussex for 169 before closing on 164 for three after the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship clash.

The two counties began the day sharing the early Division One lead but the home side have the upper hand so far after Tongue, in only his third match for Nottinghamshire after a 2024 season wrecked by injury, finished with five for 44 to go with his second-innings five for 66 against Durham on his county debut.

Tongue generated some rapid pace and was well backed up by new-ball partner Brett Hutton, who continued his early-season form with four for 53 after Oli Carter top scored for Sussex with 46.

Nottinghamshire lost England’s Ben Duckett cheaply but another man-in-form, their captain, Haseeb Hameed, closed unbeaten on 67, having scored 297 runs for once out in his last three innings.

Asked to bat first on a green-tinged pitch, with the ball doing plenty on an overcast morning, Sussex were soon in trouble as Hutton rapidly had them 22 for three with wickets in his first, third and fifth overs.

The in-form Tom Haines, who had scores of 141, 174 and 69 not out in three innings before this one, departed for a second-ball duck, caught at third slip. Hutton followed up by trapping Tom Clark in front, before Liam Patterson-White pulled off an outstanding catch at gully to remove Daniel Hughes.

When Tongue made his presence felt by pinning Tom Alsop leg before with a full and fast delivery, Sussex were 28 for four inside the first hour.

A recovery to 75 for four at lunch followed as James Coles and Carter weathered the storm but a wicket more apiece from a refreshed Hutton and Tongue set the visitors back again early in the afternoon.

Tongue roughed up Coles enough to force a mistake as the all-rounder miscued straight to mid-on, and Hutton claimed his fourth victim as John Simpson, the captain, nudged at one outside off stump to give Duckett a routine catch at second slip.

England opener Duckett is making his first Championship appearance for a year, with young batter Freddie McCann giving way. All-rounder Lyndon James pulled out with a viral infection. Sussex are without Danny Lamb, who has joined Sean Hunt and Henry Crocombe on the county’s list of injured seamers.

Carter justified his inclusion as an extra batter, striking seven boundaries as one of only two or three who looked like they could hang around long with Tongue hungry to prove himself to be fully firing after all his injury woes.

In the event he was undone by Farhan Ahmed, the 17-year-old off-spinner, who had him caught behind going down the pitch to drive.

Tongue, deployed in short and particularly sharp bursts, returned for a fourth spell with Sussex 166 for seven and finished off the innings in just one over, as Fynn Hudson-Prentice edged to first slip and Jack Carson to second, with Jayden Seales tickling one to Verreynne down the leg side, the last two wickets coming  from consecutive balls.

Nottinghamshire’s first innings started with runs flowing, between four and five an over, albeit helped by a somewhat wayward opening spell from West Indies pace bowler Seales.

But they were checked by the loss of wickets in the ninth and 11th overs. Seales picked up the first, ironically at the end of the over that had cost three Ben Slater boundaries and a no-ball, when Slater was caught at gully seemingly trying to pull out of the shot.

Duckett, who had been tested by Ollie Robinson, then went hard at a ball without too much foot movement and was caught behind off an inside edge, a deserved reward for a good spell from the England seamer.

Joe Clarke’s indifferent start to the season continued when he was well caught low down at second slip off Hudson-Prentice, but Hameed and Haynes had the upper hand in the 17 overs that remained.

By Jon Culley, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay

For more information about Rothesay, please visit www.ecb.co.uk/about/who-we-are/our-partners/rothesay