Ravi Bopara set for Sharks debut with 14-man squad named for Surrey clash

A 14-man squad has been named for Sussex's opening match of the Vitality Blast against Surrey at The 1st Central County Ground.

Ravi Bopara is in line to make his Sharks debut following his move from Essex over the winter, while Mitch Claydon and Stuart Meaker could also make their T20 debut for the club. 

Luke Wright will lead the side into his third Vitality Blast campaign as Sharks skipper, but will be without David Wiese for the first match of this year's tournament as the South African completes his quarantine period.

Wiese will be available for Sunday's match against Hampshire. 

Sussex Sharks squad to face Surrey

Luke Wright (C) 

Will Beer

Ravi Bopara

Danny Briggs

Ben Brown

Mitch Claydon

Harry Finch

George Garton

Stuart Meaker

Tymal Mills

Delray Rawlins

Ollie Robinson

Phil Salt

Aaron Thomason

Wright said: "I think we’ve got a lot of bases covered in our squad.

"We knew a while back that we probably wouldn’t see much of Jofra [Archer] for T20 but we’ve got Tymal Mills, who is capable of bowling at high pace, guys like [David] Wiese, Ollie Robinson and good spin options with Danny Briggs and Will Beer, who are both hugely experienced in T20.

"We've also obviously strengthened our batting with the arrival of Ravi. I’ve played with Rav and played against him for years and whenever we played Essex he was always seen as the key man, so it’s great to have him on our side now.

"He’s still very focused and if you look at last season he averaged 48.5 which is outstanding. He’s won a lot of games for Essex over the years and hopefully he can do the same for us."

The opposition

Surrey only won five games in the 2019 Vitality Blast and finished second bottom in the south group, but they are side packed full of international talent and will be hoping for a better tournament this time around. 

They will be without Jason Roy and Tom Curran for Friday's match at The 1st Central County Ground, with the duo both named in England's squad for the IT20 series against Pakistan, but the likes of Rory Burns, Ben Foakes and Will Jacks are available. 

Laurie Evans, who has joined Surrey on loan for the Vitality Blast before his permanent move at the end of the season, is not permitted to play against Sussex. 

Surrey squad: Gareth Batty (C), Gus Atkinson, Scott Borthwick, Rory Burns, Matt Dunn, Ben Foakes, Will Jacks, Daniel Moriarty, Ryan Patel, Jamie Smith, Mark Stoneman, James Taylor, Amar Virdi

Follow the action LIVE

Despite matches in the Vitality Blast being played behind closed doors, we are still determined to bring Sussex Sharks supporters as close to the action as possible.

Play is set to get underway from 2pm on Friday 28 August, and as well as our usual coverage across social media, fans will be able to watch every ball live via our new and improved Match Day Centre.

The stream will also be synchronised with BBC Sussex radio commentary, and the new Match Day Centre has been streamlined to give supporters the best possible online experience.

Hit For Six Competition

Just in time for our first T20 Blast game this Friday! We're giving away prizes to three lucky Sharks fans in partnership with 1st Central Insurance. Simply tell us how many sixes you think the Sharks will score and you could win one of three £50 Sussex Cricket gift vouchers! 

Submit your answer below by 2pm on 28th August and don't forget to share with your friends.

Good luck and enjoy the game LIVE on the Sussex Cricket website. 

Support the Sharks from home

We know this season is a little bit different, but we don’t want that to stop you from feeling involved, so we have put together our own T20 Vitality Blast ‘Support from Home’ Pack! 

The packs includes 'four' and 'six' cards, decorations for your home, foam fingers, hair headbands, exclusive discount offers from our partners, Ridgeview Wine, Piglets Pantry and Harvey's and lots more!