Sussex vs Durham: County Championship match preview

The LV= Insurance County Championship returns once again at The 1st Central County Ground as Sussex take on Durham tomorrow.

Paul Farbrace has named his first squad of the season as Head Coach, with 13 players selected, including the returning Cheteshwar Pujara who captains the side this year.

Those who came to this fixture at The 1st Central County Ground in 2022 were treated to a quite outstanding performance by Pujara when he made 203 runs from 334 deliveries.

Squad

Alsop, Carson, Carter (wk), Clark, Crocombe, Garton, Haines, Hudson-Prentice, Hunt, Ibrahim, McAndrew, Orr, Pujara (c)

Team news

Steven Finn and Ari Karvelas are both unavailable as they continue their rehabilitation programmes from knee injuries. Ollie Robinson has not been made available for selection as part of his Ashes preparation/management plan. 

Farbrace’s thoughts

“I’m really looking forward to the start of the season, we have had a great five or six weeks, and everybody is excited to get going.

“We have a really good balance to our team, and with addition of Cheteshwar and Nathan coming in for this first game adds the quality and experience to our already talented group of homegrown players.

“This is a big season for our quality batting line up and I am looking forward to watching them flourish. There is no better way to start than against a top quality team like Durham.”

Our opponents

Very much like Sussex, Durham are expecting a new beginning with a new Head Coach in charge for 2023.

Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Campbell joined Durham in December and will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes in this year’s County Championship, as they finished one place above Sussex in 2022.

The signing of Ollie Robinson from Kent (not the one you were thinking) will no doubt be a positive one.

Robinson is a wicketkeeper-batter who has made over 2000 first-class runs in 48 matches at an average of 30.62.

Ticket and spectator information

Tickets for days 1, and 3 are still available to purchase, with junior tickets starting at £5, seniors (65+) and adults £20.

To see our refund and rollback policy, click here.

If you’re coming to the game this week, check out our full spectator information for all the details you need such as gate opening times, directions, food and drink, plus more.

Keep up to date with the Match Day Centre

If you can’t make it to The 1st Central County Ground for the season opener, you can keep up to date with every single ball via our Match Day Centre.

You’ll find a live scorecard alongside the livestream and ball-by-ball commentary.