Three changes to squad for visit to Yorkshire

Mitch Claydon, Danial Ibrahim and Joe Sarro are included in Sussex’s 13-man squad for their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Yorkshire at Headingley, starting on Thursday. 

The trio replace Tom Clark, George Garton and Delray Rawlins from the squad announced ahead of last week’s defeat against Northamptonshire. Claydon has recovered from a calf injury sustained at the start of the season, Sarro returns after making his first-class debut against Northamptonshire last month, while 16-year-old pathway player Ibrahim is included for the first time.

Dan Ibrahim is in line for a first-class debut aged 16.

A right-handed batsman and seam bowler, Ibrahim is a pupil at Bede’s School in Eastbourne and plays his club cricket for Preston Nomads. He has been part of the Sussex youth set-up since under-10 level and made his second team debut earlier this summer.

Ollie Robinson is away on international duty, while Sean Hunt remains unavailable as he recovers from a side injury.

Tom Haines scored his fourth first-class hundred against Northants last week

After his second century of the summer in the second innings against Northamptonshire, Tom Haines is now the fourth highest run scorer in the Championship with 622 runs from his 13 innings to date. Among spinners in the competition, only Simon Harmer (34) and Matt Parkinson (23) have more wickets than Jack Carson’s 22.

After seven games and with three rounds of the group stage to come, Sussex are fifth in Group 3, six points ahead of bottom side Kent.

Sussex squad

Ben Brown (captain & wicketkeeper), Jamie Atkins, Jack Carson, Mitch Claydon, Henry Crocombe, Tom Haines, Travis Head, Daniel Ibrahim, Stuart Meaker, Ali Orr, Joe Sarro, Aaron Thomason, Stiaan van Zyl

View from the coach’s office

Looking ahead to the match, Sussex’s Championship and One-Day Head Coach, Ian Salisbury said: “Our plan was always to rest George [Garton] for this match to give him the best possible preparation for the T20s. Just as he balances our four-day team, he does the same in the Blast and he is vital to that side, so we want him to be as well-prepared as possible for the start of the tournament.

“Tom Clark and Delray Rawlins have been left out, which gives opportunities to Dan Ibrahim and Ali Orr. Ali deserves his chance after scoring runs consistently in the second team. Dan is an all-rounder who will balance the side out in the same way George does. He’s a player we identified a number of years ago as having a bright future and he impressed when he was around the squad last year as a 15-year-old and has done ever since. His dad, Kash, made his first-class debut in Pakistan, also as a teenager, so there is pedigree in the family. Dan's younger brother is also in our system and keen to follow in his footsteps!

George Garton will turn his attention to preparations for the Vitality Blast

“It was brilliant to have our home fans able to watch last week and we’re all excited now about the chance to play in front of an away crowd at a wonderful Test match venue. It’s been a few years since Sussex played at Headingley. We had a competitive game against Yorkshire at home earlier in the season and I’m sure it will be another hard-fought contest this time around.

Opposition

Yorkshire suffered their first defeat of the campaign last week, and to make it more painful, it came against Lancashire. Steve Patterson’s team were on the backfoot from the outset having been reduced to 21 for 6 and ultimately bowled out for 159 after electing to bat first at Old Trafford, but they showed plenty of fight in resisting their fiercest rivals. After Lancashire had racked up 509 for 9, Yorkshire got within 41 balls of securing a famous draw, but were ultimately bowled out for 271 to hand the Red Rose an innings victory.

Otherwise, Yorkshire have won three – including against Sussex at Hove at the end of April – and drawn three. That leaves them second in the table on 99 points, 24 points behind Lancashire and two ahead of Northants in third.

Adam Lyth is the team’s leading run scorer so far this Championship season, with 581 runs at an average of 52.81 in his 12 innings to date. That is enough to make him the fifth-leading run scorer in the competition, but, after a superb start, the opener has struggled slightly in recent matches. The former England international’s last score of fifty or more came seven innings ago when he made 66 in the second innings against Sussex. Twenty-two-year-old Harry Brook has been Yorkshire’s other major contributor with the bat. He has 407 runs from his 12 innings including five half-centuries, the most recent of which was Yorkshire’s top-score as they looked to hold on in the second innings against Lancashire.

Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson is the county's leading wicket taker so far this season

Veteran seamer, Patterson, is the White Rose’s leading wicket taker, with 21 scalps at 21.90 so far. Thirteen years Patterson’s junior at 24, Jordan Thompson is close behind with 20 wickets at 22.65. Ben Coad has taken 15, Duanne Olivier 14 and David Willey 13.

Dawid Malan is available for this week’s match having been absent for personal reasons so far this season.

Squad: Steve Patterson (captain), Gary Ballance, Dom Bess, Harry Brook, Ben Coad, Harry Duke (wicketkeeper), Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Adam Lyth, Dawid Malan, Duanne Olivier, Jordan Thompson, David Willey

Match information

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