One change to squad as Sharks head to Essex

After two comprehensive wins from their opening two matches, Sussex Sharks will hope to continue their excellent start to this year’s Vitality Blast against Essex Eagles on Tuesday evening.

Mitch Claydon is added to the Sharks squad as cover for the trip to Chelmsford. Henry Crocombe will not travel and will play in Sussex’s behind-closed-doors Second XI T20 matches against Hampshire at The 1st Central County Ground instead.

Henry will be joined by Ollie Robinson in the second team. Ollie makes his return to cricket after taking a short break last week.

Luke Wright is recovering well from the split-webbing on his hand that kept him out of the Sharks’ wins against Gloucestershire and Hampshire Hawks and his match fitness will be assessed ahead of Tuesday night’s fixture.

Sharks' skipper Luke Wright could make his first appearance of the campaign on Tuesday 

One of a number star performers for the Sharks so far has been George Garton. “We’ve hit the ground running as a team and momentum is a big thing in T20,” says the all-rounder. “We’ve started well and it’ll be important to keep that going.”

George has taken five wickets in his two outings to date and has an economy rate below four runs per over but isn’t getting ahead of himself. “T20 is a very fickle game,” he cautions. “You can bowl really well and get hit for loads and equally you can not execute your plans perfectly but pick up wickets.

“In the last couple of games I’ve felt I’ve bowled exactly how I wanted, but you can’t focus on the outcome too much. If I am executing the balls I want to bowl, then once I let go off the ball, I can’t control what happens after that. As long as I am bowling the deliveries I want to bowl, then I am happy, and I’ve felt I’ve done that in the two games so far.”

Equally impressive was the 24-year-old’s nerveless innings of 46 from 25 balls to help Sussex recover from 52 for 4 in their chase at Bristol last Friday night. His 92-run partnership with Phil Salt was a Sussex record for the fifth wicket in T20 cricket and crucial to Sussex’s victory.

“The stats say that if you lose three or more in the powerplay you don’t go on to win many games, but I got out there and Salty said, ‘forget the wickets that have gone down, you’re good enough to bat wherever, it’s a good wicket, get yourself in and we’ll go from there.’ And we didn’t look back.”

Phil Salt has 149 runs from his two innings so far... and is yet to be dismissed!

Despite his eye-catching contributions, George remains focussed on the team’s success. “I’m happy personally, but I’m more happy that we’ve been winning,” he continues. “My goal is to try and win as many games as possible for Sussex and I’m glad I’ve been helping to do that so far in the tournament. In our team meetings, we’ve been talking about how we have plenty of potential match-winners in our team and how as individuals we need to be looking to cash in when it’s our night.”

A big boost for George and the rest of the squad has been playing T20 cricket in front of supporters once again. “You forget how much you miss crowds after last year and especially the home advantage. When Salty and Ravi were flying on Saturday night, we had the crowd right behind us and it reminded me how good it was to play in front of a crowd. Even up at Gloucester, copping the odd bit of abuse and having a laugh with the fans was fun. It’s great to have people back.

Despite their fearsome reputation among visiting sides, George is equally excited about playing in front of Essex’s fans tomorrow night. “You’re always in for a good laugh at Chelmsford. Because of the way the ground is you’ve got the fans right on top of you and you can hear everything they say – and they’ve always got a bit to say! If we can play well again and come away with another win, that’s all that really matters though.”

Sussex Sharks squad: Luke Wright (captain), Will Beer, Ravi Bopara, Oli Carter, Mitch Claydon, George Garton, Travis Head (overseas, Australia), Chris Jordan, Archie Lenham, Tymal Mills, Delray Rawlins, Phil Salt, Aaron Thomason, David Wiese (overseas, South Africa)

Essex Eagles

The 2019 Blast champions started their campaign with an away win against Somerset, but have been beaten by Hampshire and Glamorgan since. In their opener, all-rounders Paul Walter and James Neesham starred with the bat as the Eagles chased down a target of 186 with ease. Batsmen’s failure to turn starts into match-winning scores has hampered captain Simon Harmer’s men since. Opener Tom Westley threatened something special against Hampshire before he was run out with 44 from 29 balls. New Zealander Neesham is Essex’s top-scorer after three games, with 102 runs and his 53 off 25 balls against Somerset is the team’s highest individual score to date.

Jimmy Neesham in action for the Eagles during their win against Somerset last week

Twenty-three-year-old seamer Sam Cook, the man they call Little Chef in reference to namesake Alastair Cook’s sobriquet, has been the Eagles’ most impressive bowler. His economy rate of exactly six runs per over is the best of the eight bowlers to have taken six wickets in the tournament so far. His 3 for 14 at Taunton   Off-spinner Harmer has been his usual reliable self with four wickets at an economy of 7.36 runs per over.

Squad: TBA

Match information

Tuesday’s match against Essex Eagles is scheduled to start at 7pm. Tickets are only available to Essex members.

You’ll be able to watch every ball live via a live stream hosted on the Sussex Cricket Match Centre. You’ll also find a live scorecard, video clips of key moments and live stats on this page.

Don’t forget tickets for Sussex’s next five Vitality Blast home games are now on general sale. You’ll need to be quick, however, with fewer than 100 tickets now remaining for a number of the matches.