Six changes to squad for final Championship group game

Ollie Robinson and Tom Haines are back in Sussex's squad for the trip to the St. Lawrence Ground

Ian Salisbury has named a 13-man squad for Sussex’s final match of the LV= Insurance County Championship group stage against Kent at Canterbury starting on Sunday 11th July.

There are six changes to the squad named ahead of Sussex’s draw against Glamorgan earlier this week. Jamie Atkins, James Coles, Tom Haines, Ollie Robinson, Sean Hunt and Harrison Ward replace Will Beer, Mitch Claydon, Archie Lenham, Joe Sarro, Aaron Thomason and Stiaan van Zyl.

Seventeen-year-old James Coles (centre) could make his second first-class appearance on Sunday after becoming Sussex's second youngest first-class cricketer in 2020 

Atkins, Coles, Haines, Robinson and Hunt are available again after completing a period of isolation. Thomason is unavailable for selection after himself being required to isolate by NHS Test and Trace.   

The divisions in which Group 3’s teams will play during the season’s final four Championship matches have already been confirmed. Yorkshire and Lancashire will play in Division 1, Northants and Glamorgan in Division 2 and Kent and Sussex in Division 3.

Fifth and sixth respectively, Kent and Sussex will be fighting it out to avoid finishing bottom of the group. After nine games, Kent have 86 points and Sussex 83.

Jack Carson's six wickets in the draw with Glamorgan made him Sussex's leading wicket taker in this year's competition

Off-spinner Jack Carson is now the leading wicket taker in Group 3 with 31 dismissals. That makes him the eleventh leading wicket taker in the Championship overall.

Despite missing the Glamorgan match, Tom Haines is still the Championship’s fifth highest run scorer with 648 runs.

Sussex squad

Ben Brown (captain), Jamie Atkins, Jack Carson, Oli Carter, James Coles, Tom Haines, Travis Head, Sean Hunt, Danial Ibrahim, Stuart Meaker, Ali Orr, Ollie Robinson, Harrison Ward

View from the coach’s office

On the draw against Glamorgan: “Obviously we were disappointed not to get the win, but I’d like to thank the side from last week for the way they approached the game given the circumstances going into the match. Despite the result, Ben’s hundred, more runs for Ali and Dan, another six wickets for Jack Carson were huge positives.”

Looking ahead to the trip to Canterbury: ““I’m disappointed we won’t be competing for a place in the second division this week, but that doesn’t change the fact we will be going into the game trying to win it.

Sean Hunt took five wickets at an average of 18.40 at the start of the season before injury struck

“We’ve got back the guys who would have been up for selection last week if it hadn’t been for their isolation. Jamie [Atkins] took five wickets in his last outing, we’ve got the first chance this summer to pick James Coles, it’s exciting to see Sean Hunt back after working really hard on his side over the last few months and it’s always nice to be able to play Ollie Robinson as well.

“Unfortunately Stiaan hasn’t scored the runs he would have liked to as an overseas player. He himself is bitterly disappointed about that as he cares deeply about the team. Sometimes you have to make changes, it’s as simple as that.”

Kent

Kent battled hard with a little help from the weather to escape with a draw against Lancashire in their previous match. Having been skittled for 74 in their first innings, Kent held on and saw out the final day eight wickets down to avoid defeat.

That was the side’s fifth consecutive draw in the Championship. In all, coach Matt Walker’s men have drawn six and last three of their nine matches. They are one of only two sides across all three groups (Derbyshire are the other) without a win in the campaign to date.

There's only two Ollie Robinsons

Ollie Robinson is Kent’s leading run-scorer with 536 runs from his 15 innings to date. Forty-five-year-old all-rounder Darren Stevens top’s the team’s batting averages with his 459 runs coming at 41.72. Jack Leaning and Jordan Cox are the other two players with over 400 runs this season.

Stevens is Kent’s leading wicket taker with 28 wickets at an average of exactly 20. Matt Quinn – on loan from Essex ahead of a permanent move – is next on the list with 15 scalps at an average of 17.93. Matt Milnes (11 at 36.90) and Nathan Gilchrist (10 at 25.80) are the other two bowlers to have reached double figures.

Squad: TBA

Starting XI in previous fixture: Zak Crawley, Jordan Cox, Joe Denly*, Ollie Robinson+, Jack Leaning, Heino Kuhn, Tawanda Muyeye, Darren Stevens, Matt Milnes, Harry Podmore, James Logan, Matt Quinn

Match information

Play is scheduled to start at 11am on all four days. Spectator information is available on the Kent website.

Supporters can also watch the match via the live stream on the Sussex Cricket Match Centre which also provides clips of key moments, an interactive scorecard and live statistics.