Squad announced for Championship resumption

Archie Lenham could make his first-class debut next week after being named in a 12-player squad for Sussex’s LV= Insurance County Championship Division 3 fixture against Worcestershire that starts at New Road on Monday.

Fynn Hudson-Prentice – on loan from Derbyshire ahead of a permanent move at the end of the season – is also in the squad and could make his first appearance for Sussex since leaving the club at the conclusion of the 2016 campaign.

Overseas player, Travis Head has returned home in order to comply with quarantine requirements ahead of the Australian domestic season and so will not feature for Sussex for the remainder of the summer. As previously announced, Stiaan van Zyl has also returned home.

Sean Hunt is fit again and included in the squad, but Jamie Atkins (shoulder) and Tom Clark (knee) remain unavailable through injury. They are joined on the injury list by Ben Brown (hamstring).

As announced earlier, Tom Haines will captain the team for the remainder of the season.

Sussex begin their Division 3 campaign in third place, having carried forward 12 points from the group stage. Each team starts with half the points they accrued against the team from their original group that has now joined them in their division. In Sussex’s case, that’s half of the 24 points scored during two draws against Kent.

Sussex squad

Tom Haines (captain), Jack Carson, Oli Carter, Henry Crocombe, James Coles, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Sean Hunt, Dan Ibrahim, Archie Lenham, Ali Orr, Joe Sarro, Harrison Ward.

View from the coach’s office

On preparations for the resumption of the Championship: “Trying to get people up to speed for four-day cricket has been a challenge. There haven’t been many opportunities to give bowlers the overs they need in their legs and the batsmen the practice required for playing long innings again. We’ve had a couple of second team games that were unfortunately disrupted a bit by illness and injury for batters, but a number of the bowlers got their workloads up. Nonetheless, we’ll have to look after them over the next few games.”

On the return of Fynn Hudson-Prentice: “I’m really excited for Fynn. It was lovely to catch up with him before we headed up to Durham for the quarter final. He’s buzzing and hugely excited about what we’re doing down here and can’t wait to get stuck in. He’s such a talented boy and we can see him getting better and better in all forms both with bat and ball. It’s brilliant that we’ve got him on loan for the rest of the season and he can start writing the next chapter of his career from Monday.”

On Travis Head’s early departure: “Travis had to head home to make sure he could complete quarantine before the start of the Australian season. Unfortunately, it looks like there will be some changes to how that all pans out for him over there with the COVID situation, but we wish him well for the winter. He had an outstanding 50-over competition for us, showing everyone what a talented player he is. If he’s available for more games next year, then we’re keen to have him back.”

On a possible first-class debut for Archie Lenham: “Underpinning our strategy of bringing sustained success back to Sussex is the trio of youngsters in James Coles, Dan Ibrahim and Archie. Archie’s been a revelation this summer, as have the other guys. So, a chance to play them all together in these Championship games is hugely exciting. It will be nice to show everyone how well Archie can bat as well as bowl; he’s a proper all-rounder.”

On Chris Jordan and Phil Salt’s availability: “CJ hasn’t bowled more than four overs in a game for a very long time, so just isn’t ready for Championship cricket. With Phil, we want him to focus on preparing to help us win the T20 competition in a few weeks’ time.”

Worcestershire

Worcestershire finished fifth in Group 1 with one win, three defeats and five draws from their ten matches.

The Pears are joined in Division 3 by Group 1’s bottom side Derbyshire. Worcestershire took 37 points from their win and draw against Derbyshire and so – once that haul is halved – start this portion of the season at the top of the Division 3 table with 18.5 points.

Jake Libby has excelled with the bat in this year’s Championship. He has amassed 798 runs from his 15 innings at an average of 61.38, including three centuries. Only Durham’s David Bedingham has scored more Championship runs this summer. Ed Barnard has also had a good season, with 580 runs from his 12 knocks at 64.44. Jack Haynes (295 runs at 42.14) is the other Worcestershire player to average over 30 (min. two innings).

Worcestershire’s bowlers have shared the wickets around but no standout performer has emerged. Joe Leach leads the list with 17 wickets at an average of 48.47, but Josh Tongue has been the best performer when he’s played, taking 14 wickets at 25.57 from four matches. Dillon Pennington, Ed Barnard and departed overseas pro, Alzari Joseph each have 15 wickets.   

Worcestershire Squad: Daryl Mitchell, Jake Libby, Tom Fell, Jack Haynes, Brett D’Oliveira, Ed Barnard, Ben Cox (w), Joe Leach ©, Dillon Pennington, Charlie Morris, Adam Finch, Josh Baker.

Match information

Play is scheduled to begin at 11am on all four days. Tickets are available from Worcestershire County Cricket Club here.

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.