Sharks travel to Lord's with 15-man squad

Sussex Sharks head to Lord's on Tuesday 1 September for their third Vitality Blast match in five days, hoping to make it back-to-back wins when they face Middlesex. 

Sharks skipper Luke Wright was the hero during El Clasicoast on Sunday afternoon, smashing 82 runs off just 55 deliveries after Danny Briggs impressed with the ball in the first innings, restricting Hampshire to 175-8 with figures of 3-17. 

There is one change to the 15-man squad who overcame our local rivals, with 19-year-old Jack Carson replacing Stuart Meaker. 

Sharks squad to face Hampshire:

Luke Wright (C) 

Will Beer

Ravi Bopara

Danny Briggs

Ben Brown

Jack Carson

Mitch Claydon

Harry Finch

George Garton

Tymal Mills

Delray Rawlins

Ollie Robinson

Phil Salt

Aaron Thomason

David Wiese

Looking ahead to Tuesday's trip to the capital, Wright said: "It's always nice to play at Lord's. It's always special.

"We know it's a shortened competition this year, so the earlier you can get on a roll, the better. Hopefully, if we can get another couple of wins before the break [when Sussex face Surrey in the Bob Willis Trophy this weekend], that would be great advantage. 

"I think for all of us, we felt very rusty going into this competition so to already have a win, and an outing against Surrey despite it raining, is really good for us. 

"Hopefully with a few more games under our belt, we can keep performing well."

The opposition

Middlesex have had to settle for a point from each of their opening two matches in this year's Vitality Blast, but the results came in very different circumstances. 

On the opening day of the tournament, Max Holden scored a sublime century against 2019 winners Essex Eagles at The Cloudfm Ground in Chelmsford, before heavy and persistent rain saw play abandoned.

The Lord's based side had to settle for a point on Saturday against Kent Spitfires, too, but that stalemate had nothing to do with the weather as Lord's witnessed a thrilling tie. 

After Middlesex finished their 20 overs on 209-4, the Spitfires began their chase well but were pegged back by Nathan Sowter, who took 2-36 and Steven Finn, who finished with figures of 2-34. 

It was then down to Tom Helm to defend six off the final over, and he did so brilliantly with Kent finishing on 209-5. 

Unsurprisingly, Holden is his side's leading run-scorer in this year's Blast after his blistering 102* against Essex, while Sowter and Finn both have two wickets apiece.

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 against Middlesex is set to get underway from 6:15pm on Tuesday 1 September, 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 come courtesy of our friends at Middlesex, while our Match Day Centre will also include in-play clips and stats to give supporters the best possible online experience.

Hit For Six Competition

In partnership with 1st Central, we’re giving away prizes to three lucky Sharks fans after every match in this year’s Vitality Blast!. 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 HERE by 2pm on 3rd September for our next home match against Kent Spitfires 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!