Squad announced for Royal London Cup opener against Lancashire

Sussex Sharks begin their Royal London Cup campaign on Friday, taking on Lancashire in Group A against the picturesque backdrop of Sedbergh School.

With no one-day competition last summer as a result of the pandemic, it will be the Sharks’ first taste of List-A cricket in over two years (although the team enjoyed a 50-over friendly against Oxfordshire earlier this week).

Much has changed since then, with Will Beer the only player from the team that took on Glamorgan on 7th May 2019 in contention for a spot in the eleven for Friday’s opener.

A 12-man squad has been named for the fixture, with a focus on the club’s strategic aim of developing its young homegrown players with the support of some experienced professionals.

Tom Haines will captain the side throughout the competition as a means of growing his leadership skills and experience.

Ravi Bopara, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Phil Salt, Delray Rawlins, Ollie Robinson and Luke Wright are all away with their respective teams in The Hundred.

Jack Carson is currently involved in the County Select XI fixture against India at Emirates Riverside.

Jamie Atkins (right shoulder) and Mitch Claydon (right shoulder) are unavailable through injury. Jofra Archer continues a managed return from elbow surgery and has is not travelling with the squad for this fixture.

Sussex Sharks squad

Tom Haines (captain), Will Beer, Oli Carter, Tom Clark, James Coles, Henry Crocombe, Travis Head (overseas, Australia), Dan Ibrahim, Archie Lenham, Ali Orr, Joe Sarro, Harrison Ward

Lancashire

Lancashire warmed-up for the Royal London Cup with a 209-run win against Cumberland at Sedbergh on Tuesday. Centurion Keaton Jennings received support from captain Dane Vilas, Luke Wells and Rob Jones who all made fifties as Lancashire racked up 383 for 7 batting first. Wickets were shared around as Cumberland were dismissed for 174 in reply. Wells picked up 3 for 17 from his 6.3 overs to round off a fine day for the ex-Sussex man.

The Red Rose County have eight players away at The Hundred. Jos Buttler, Alex Davies, Richard Gleeson, Tom Hartley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson and Luke Wood are all involved in the new tournament.

Lancashire’s overseas player for the Royal London Cup, Indian batmsan Shreyas Iyer, has been ruled out of the competition through injury.

Squad: TBA

Match information

Lancashire v Sussex Sharks at Sedbergh School on Friday 23rd July is scheduled for an 11am start. Tickets are available via Lancashire’s ticketing site.

The Sussex Cricket Match Centre will host a live stream of the game as well as video clips, a live scorecard and stats.