Reece Topley in contention as squad head to Derby

Back-to-back wins over Middlesex and Gloucestershire see Sussex enter their penultimate match of the Specsavers County Championship still in the hunt for promotion to division one.

A 13-man squad has been named for the match against Derbyshire that starts in Derby on Monday (10.30am)

There is one change from the group that travelled to Bristol ahead of the eight-wicket win against Gloucestershire earlier this week. Reece Topley replaces Jared Warner who has been recalled by Yorkshire as injury cover for their own run-in.

Topley is in contention for a Sussex first-class debut after bowling 16 overs and taking two wickets for the 2nd XI in their three-day friendly against Yorkshire this week.

After twelve matches, Sussex lie in fifth position in division two, but are just eleven points off Gloucestershire in the third and final promotion spot. Durham are fourth with a two-point lead over Sussex, while sixth-placed Glamorgan are still in with an outside chance with 136 points.

Ollie Robinson now has 57 wickets from just nine Championship outings this year. His strike rate of a wicket every 36.4 balls is second only to Jimmy Anderson’s (31,9) among division two bowlers with at least 15 wickets.

Ben Brown snaffled six catches in the win against Gloucestershire meaning he has 49 dismissals in total in this year’s competition. That’s seven more than any other ‘keeper in division two. Sussex’s captain also has 750 Championship runs at an average of 44.11, making him the side’s leading run-scorer. Stiaan van Zyl has 677 runs at 48.35 from his seventeen Championship innings this season.

As the season reaches its climax, Sussex head coach Jason Gillespie said: “The lads put in an excellent team performance at Bristol. The bowlers bowled well for each other, making sure they kept the pressure on at both ends, while to get a decent lead in our first innings was pleasing. As was the way Phil Salt and Stiaan saw us home.

“I still think we could’ve been more ruthless with the bat, aiming for a 250 plus lead so that’s something to work on in the final two games.

“Whatever we end up doing first at Derby, we want to make sure we are getting a big first innings total that allows us to take charge of the game and drive it forward.

“The equation is simple for the rest of the season, we need to take as many points as possible. That said, our focus remains on the process and the things we can control, rather than the end result. That means looking to score as many runs as we can, creating and then taking as many chances as can with the ball, keeping our energy levels high and making sure our mindset is right. If we do that, we give ourselves the best chance of a successful end to the campaign.

“It’s very encouraging to be able to include Reece Topley in the squad after he bowled 16 overs in the seconds this week. We’ll decide on Monday morning whether he plays, but he is very much in contention and that’s great for Reece given everything he’s been through.

“I think our coaching and medical staff deserve real credit for the way they’ve managed Reece. There hasn’t been too high an expectation of him; he’s been able to go at his pace, build his confidence and get to the position he’s in now. I think the club can be proud of that.”

Opposition

Derbyshire won two of their first four matches in this year’s Championship, but have only managed one victory in their next eight. With six, only Worcestershire have as many defeats as the men from the Pattonair County Ground. Add in three draws and Derbyshire find themselves in eighth place with 115 points and all but out of the promotion race.

Derbyshire have found first innings run-scoring difficult, bagging only 20 batting points all season. They have achieving maximum batting points only once in a high-scoring draw against Middlesex. Nonetheless, they have two players in the division’s top eight run-scorers. Captain Billy Godleman is the side’s leading run scorer with 853 including a double ton against Glamorgan. He has three centuries, as does the now-injured Tom Lace who returned 780 runs at 43.3 before being ruled out for the remainder of the season with a broken finger in late August. Veteran Wayne Madsen is the other Derbyshire player with over 700 runs, the bulk of which came in an innings of 204 not out during an April draw with Gloucestershire.

Ravi Rampaul has been Derbyshire’s leading wicket-taker, closely followed by Luis Reece. They have 44 and 43 scalps respectively, putting them fifth and sixth in list of division two wicket takers. Rampaul won’t feature against Sussex, however, having been injured during Derbyshire’s innings defeat to Lancashire this week.

Squad: Billy Godleman, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Matt Critchley, Harvey Hosein, Anuj Dal, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Mattie McKiernan, Tony Palladino, Sam Conners, Dustin Melton

Match Information

Derbyshire v Sussex at the Pattonair County Ground, Derby from Monday 16th to Thursday 19th September. Play is scheduled to begin at 10.30am on all four days.

Tickets are available to purchase in advance from the Derbyshire CCC ticketing website.

Follow the action on the Sussex Cricket Match Centre, including live scorecard, statistics and text commentary via the @SussexCCC twitter feed.