Men's Cricket

Performance's of the Season: BWT

19 Oct 2020

In what was a tough Bob Willis Trophy campaign for Sussex, who were one of two teams from Division Two of the County Championship in the South Group, there were a number of fine individual performances that bode well for the future of Sussex Cricket. We take a look back at the four Bob Willis Trophy performances that have been nominated for our Performance of the Season Award…

George Garton vs. Essex (H) - First innings five-fer and match figures of 9-76

George Garton’s maiden five-wicket haul put Sussex in a strong position against Essex at Hove, in what was Sussex’s third Bob Willis Trophy match of the campaign.

The left-arm seamer took 5 for 26 including former England captain Sir Alastair Cook as the south group leaders were dismissed for 140 in response to Sussex’s 194 on day three at Hove.

Garton’s ability to make the ball bounce disconcertingly off a length made him a handful. His first victim Dan Lawrence (6) was caught behind off the shoulder of the bat before he pinned Cook (20) on the crease.

Even Paul Walter, who top scored with 33, fell victim to Garton first ball after tea, claiming his third wicket of the day.

Garton then extracted more bounce to have Aaron Beard (0) caught at second slip before finishing things off by bowling last man Matt Quinn for 13.

Garton went on to take match figures of 9-76, his best recorded first-class figures to date.

Speaking after day one of the match, George Garton said: "My first five-for has been a long time coming but hopefully I can kick on from this.

I was really happy with the way I bowled and to get a big fish like Alastair Cook out was a special moment because when he comes in he's always got a target on his head.”

Watch the full Highlights playlist from the BWT match with Essex HERE.

Ollie Robinson vs. Hampshire (H) – Second innings five-fer, match figures of 8-65

Ollie Robinson took five wickets, including three in 14 balls, as Sussex beat Hampshire by 94 runs in their Bob Willis Trophy south group opener at Hove, becoming the first team to win a Bob Willis Trophy match.

Robinson picked up Joe Weatherley, Felix Organ and Sam Northeast before lunch and claimed Harry Came as his fourth victim early into the afternoon session. He then returned after tea to remove last man Ajeet Singh to finish with 5 for 29 from 13.3 impressive overs and seal his side an impressive victory.

Robinson, 26, finished with match figures of nine for 56 and once again showed the form which brought him (at that point) 137 Championship wickets in the last two seasons and a place in England’s training squad for the Test series against West Indies earlier on in the year.

He removed both Hampshire openers in near identical fashion, driving without much foot movement and edging to third slip. George Garton held on at the second attempt to remove Joe Weatherley (2) before taking a low catch offered by Organ for nine.

Robinson struck again in his fourth over when Northeast (7), attempting a checked drive, got an inside edge and lost his leg stump and Hampshire had slumped to 38 for four just after lunch when Came was defeated by Robinson’s extra bounce off a good length and edged to Phil Salt at slip for six. After his new-ball spell, Robinson had figures of four for 15 from eight overs.

Robinson – the best bowler on show by some margin that day –wrapped things up when he had last man Ajeet Dale caught behind for a duck to claim the 14th five-wicket haul of his first-class career.

Speaking after the match, Ben Brown said: “Sussex captain Ben Brown said: "Ollie Robinson's performance is the sort we have come to expect from him. He is in a really good rhythm and that spell of three wickets before lunch today made such a difference.”

Watch the full Highlights playlist from the BWT match with Hampshire HERE.

Phil Salt vs. Hampshire (H) – 68 off 83 balls (first innings), 80 off 134 balls (second innings)

A week before the Bob Willis Trophy match against Hampshire, Phil Salt was retired after thumping 14 fours and two sixes in a 58-ball century for England in a one-day warm-up game against Ireland. But Salt, who played Big Bash cricket in Adelaide in the winter, likes red ball cricket too, as he showed by adding 80 to his first innings 68 on the second day of the Bob Willis Trophy match against Hampshire at Hove.

The first two days of the match had seen fit and energetic bowlers – not always the case in August – getting the better of out of touch batsmen on a decent batting track. But Salt was the exception in both innings, dominating an earnest and varied Hampshire attack to place his Sussex side in a dominating position.

Salt dominated the 16-over opening partnership of 60 runs with Tom Haines, who was trapped lbw to Ian Holland for 20. But that didn’t put off Salt as he reached his fifty off 61 balls by lifting the off-spinner Felix Organ over square-leg for six.

He led the way as Sussex built on their slender first innings lead of 23. But with two days left in the match this was a self-restrained innings by his galloping standards.

In the penultimate over of the day Salt lost his wicket, belting Organ to Fuller at mid-on. He had faced 134 balls and hit six fours and a six.

Following the close of play, Phil Salt said: "It was a shame to lose three quick wickets at the end but we’re very much in the driving seat.

"The surface is pretty good. It’s a bit on the slow side. But it’s been a good cricket wicket and now it’s started to turn as well, with some rough, so I’m looking forward to seeing Jack Carson out there.

"I would have bit your arm to be in the situation we’re in now. We’d like another 70-80 runs tomorrow. As for me, I like to put the bowlers under pressure. You get more bad balls that way. I was gutted not to get in the England squad after scoring that century but it was a great experience just to be involved with the squad."

Watch the full Highlights playlist from the BWT match with Hampshire HERE.

Tom Haines vs. Surrey (A) – 117 off 249 balls

Tom Haines negotiated both a fiery second spell from Jamie Overton and a verbal spat with left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty to reach a superb 105 not out in Sussex’s first innings 239 for 3 against Surrey at the Kia Oval.

It was the 21-year-old Haines’ second first-class hundred and he featured in century stands with both Aaron Thomason and Delray Rawlins as Sussex made an impressive start to the final round of Bob Willis Trophy fixtures after winning the toss and opting for first use of a slow-paced pitch.

At stumps Haines had faced 216 balls, hitting 14 fours and batting with great self-discipline throughout a day of only five hours’ playing time, because of a 12 noon start following Surrey’s floodlit Vitality Blast fixture against Middlesex on the ground the previous evening.

After scoring the second first-class century of his career, Tom Haines was overjoyed following the conclusion of day one against Surrey.

It was 809 days since the opening batsman scored the first ton of his career, against Durham at Arundel in 2018, but he was delighted to reach that landmark again at The Kia Oval.

Haines said: "It’s been a little while coming. It’s been a couple of years since my first one, and a couple of years of hard work, but to finally get there today – the feeling was unbelievable. Hopefully there will be many more.

"I keep getting starts but sometimes get out from my own mistakes, or sometimes it’s just a good ball, but today to go on and get that century was lovely.

"The wait since my last one has been frustrating but it’s also been a real learning curve, last year especially when I only played five games after doing quite well the year before. It was a bit of an eye opener and I learned a lot."