Sussex Show Early Signs of Encouragement as Friendly Comes to a Close

Oli Carter followed up Tom Haines’ first innings century with an impressive knock of his own, reaching 91 not-out off 130 balls on the third and final day of the warm-up game against Surrey.

Batting at number three in the second innings, Carter put on a positive display to frustrate the Surrey bowling attack with a score that included nine boundaries. He had good support throughout the morning from both Tom Clark and Delray Rawlins. Clark looked comfortable at the crease as he put on 57, with Rawlins adding 40 off 53 balls to take Sussex’s second innings total to 200 at lunch.

After lunch it was Surrey’s turn to bat, with both sides agreeing ahead of the friendly to share the time out in the middle to help with preparations ahead of the upcoming season. The bowling attack of Sussex wasted no time ripping through the Surrey top order take five wickets for just 23 runs.

Experienced pace bowler Steven Finn opened the bowling along with Fynn Hudson-Prince, both taking early wickets to dismiss the Surrey openers. Jamie Atkins then took charge of the day taking three wickets in quick succession in a spectacular spell that saw him concede eight runs from his four overs.

Sussex were aggressive in their fielding throughout the final sessions of the day, and continued to pile on the pressure, as Dan Ibrahim and Tom Haines took a wicket each to leave Surrey on 94-7 at the close of play.

Reflecting on his team’s first outing of the season, Head Coach Ian Salisbury said: “I am delighted for the boys, they showed real togetherness throughout the three days and got their rewards with both the bat and ball.

“Haines looks to have picked up where he left off last season, not only with the bat but also with his leadership. I thought we were aggressive in the field, and it was a good team performance that gives us plenty of encouragement as we look ahead to the Durham game on Monday.”

To read the full scorecard and see the highlights visit the Match Day Centre.