Travis Head set for debut against Northants

Travis Head is in line for his Sussex debut in the county’s LV= Insurance County Championship match against Northamptonshire that starts on Thursday. The Australian overseas player is part of a 13-man squad that has travelled to Northampton for the fixture.

Ollie Robinson returns after being rested for last week’s game against Lancashire, while George Garton will take a break having played in all four of Sussex’s matches so far. Will Beer and Ali Orr are omitted to allow them to play in the 2nd XI Championship fixture against Surrey currently underway at The 1st Central County Ground. Beginning his return to competitive cricket, Jofra Archer is also involved in that match.  Mitch Claydon (calf), Sean Hunt (side) and Phil Salt (foot) remain unavailable through injury. 

Ben Brown is set to make his 150th first-class appearance - all of them for Sussex - at Wantage Road.

One club man: Ben Brown made his first-class debut for Sussex in 2007

After four rounds, Sussex are third in Group 3. Their record of one win, a draw and two defeats is the same as that of fourth-placed Northants and fifth-placed Glamorgan, but a superior bonus point haul gives Sussex a slight advantage.

With 12, Sussex have the most batting points in the group and one fewer than Group 1’s Worcestershire, who lead the way across the competition. Sussex are one of six counties to have amassed as many as 12 bowling points so far, including Group 3’s first- and second-placed teams, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

How the Group 3 table looks after four rounds

Eighteen wickets make Sussex’s 20-year-old off spinner Jack Carson the joint second-highest wicket-taker among spinners in the Championship, level with Lancashire’s Matt Parkinson and three behind Essex’s Simon Harmer. Robinson has 20 scalps from just three matches. Only Craig Overton (25), Ryan Higgins (24) and Harmer have more, and all three have played a game more.

Jack Carson has 33 wickets in just eight first-class matches

Tom Haines’ good form with the bat so far this summer continued against Lancashire. He made his fourth score over 50 in the first innings of that encounter and now has 474 runs from his eight innings at an average of 55.18.

Sussex Squad

Ben Brown (captain, wicketkeeper), Jamie Atkins, Jack Carson, Tom Clark, Henry Crocombe, Tom Haines, Travis Head, Stuart Meaker, Delray Rawlins, Ollie Robinson (vice-captain), Joe Sarro, Aaron Thomason, Stiaan van Zyl

View from the coach’s office

Ian Salisbury is pleased to see his side making progress

On last week’s match with Lancashire: “Am I disappointed we lost? Yes! I was gutted for the side as we played some really good cricket over the past two games against experienced sides. I actually think we should have got more runs in the first innings. I think if we’d have got 400, we could have put the game to bed. If you put it in football terms, we were one-nil up at 60 minutes and then ended up losing two-one in the end, without being overly outplayed. We need to score that second goal to give us the best chance of the win or at the very least the draw. It’s frustrating, of course, but I think you can put a lot of it down to inexperience coupled with a couple of things not going our way. Batting conditions were tough in our second innings, for example. You’ve also got to give credit to a strong opposition, of course.

“But did we get better as a side again? I fully believe we did. Jack Carson was outstanding in controlling the game from the bottom end, into the wind on a pitch that didn’t turn hugely, which let the seamers rotate at the other end. I thought it was Stuart Meaker’s best performance in a Sussex shirt. Things didn’t go Henry Crocombe’s way, but it’s more balls bowled in first-class cricket which will only help him get better. George is getting better game after game. Ben’s leadership and management of his resources was great and is getting better with each game. We aren’t afraid of talking about the areas where we can improve and the mistakes we’ve made. The guys are buying into that, and that’s how the side will continue to develop and grow as we work towards long-term, sustained success.

Stuart Meaker took four wickets in the match against Lancashire last week

“It was brilliant to play on such a good cricket wicket, as well. It produced a great game of cricket with balance between bat and ball. Huge credit to Ben Gibson and his team for producing such a good strip.”

On the arrival of overseas player, Travis Head: “I’ve had quite a bit of contact with Trav since taking over the job. His enthusiasm for cricket is infectious. He’s been messaging me non-stop through the games and telling me how much he’s been looking forward to getting over here. He gives off a lot of energy and he’s fully invested in what’s going on here at Sussex and our strategy. He can’t wait to get started and wants to be part of the club for a long time to come. He said to me that he wants to be like Darren Lehmann was at Yorkshire: create a legacy here that lasts and make this his home during his winter year after year.”

On managing player workload: “George has been carrying a heel niggle all summer. One of those fast bowler injuries that you get from slamming your foot down. So, we’re going to rest him, with Ollie coming back in. As we saw from the last game, someone being rested gives someone else a chance to come in and impress. Jamie Atkins got a chance and really seized it with a fantastic performance on debut.”

Two great moments 👏@JamieAtkins2005 took his maiden first-class wickets against Lancashire over the weekend. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/rV4Jkly5iF

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) May 4, 2021

Looking ahead to the trip to Northampton: “Northants – like others that have been in the second division and haven’t had the chance to play against teams like Yorkshire and Lancashire - look like they have been invigorated by the format we’re playing. They’ve had two great matches in the last couple of weeks and they’ll be just as enthused by how they’re cricket is going as we are. I expect nothing else other than another tough, exciting game which will be another test for our team to see where we’re at. Northampton’s my hometown, so it will be nice to go back and see my sisters.”

On Jofra Archer’s return to action: “Jofra is no different to any other player in that we put the person first. Even though he’s centrally contracted, he’s a Sussex player and his welfare is just as important to us as any other of our players. If he and England feel that it’s best for him to play in the seconds to begin with, then that’s fine with us. We forget this guy has been globetrotting during an unbelievable two years, he’s been in a bubble more than almost anyone else over the last year, he’s just had a major operation and so doing what’s right for him is crucial. It goes back to something I’ve said before: ‘person first, cricketer second’. If it was anyone else, we wouldn’t even be questioning them returning after an operation by playing in the second team rather than going straight into a Championship match. As brilliant as he is, he’s still a human being, who needs looking after.”

Jofra Archer is working his way back to full fitness

Opposition

After a high-scoring draw against Kent and a heavy defeat to Lancashire in their opening two fixtures, Northants have been involved in two fantastic games of cricket since. After being set a mammoth 355 runs to win at home against Glamorgan in round three, Northants duly reached their target with seven wickets and more than six overs to spare on the fourth day. A week later, there was heartbreak for coach David Ripley’s men when, set 220 for victory by Yorkshire at Headingley, they were bowled out for 218.

Ricardo Vasconcelos has been in fine form for Northants 

Ricardo Vasconcelos is the competition’s third-highest run scorer with 485 runs from his seven innings at an average of over 80. He followed up his 154 against Kent with a sensational 185 not out as he and Rob Keogh put on 239 together to overcome Glamorgan. Keogh is second on Northants’ run-scoring list with 309 runs at 44.14, also including two centuries. No other Northants player has scored a hundred, but Gareth Berg, Wayne Parnell, Luke Procter, Adam Rossington, Tom Taylor and Saif Zaib have all scored one fifty each.

Parnell is the side’s leading wicket taker with 13 from his two matches so far. Ten of those came in the narrow defeat in Leeds, where the South African left-arm seamer took five wickets in both Yorkshire innings. Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson both have ten wickets each.

Northamptonshire Squad

Adam Rossington (captain/wicketkeeper), Gareth Berg, Nathan Buck, Ben Curran, Brandon Glover, Rob Keogh, Simon Kerrigan, Wayne Parnell, Luke Procter, Ben Sanderson, Tom Taylor, Charlie Thurston, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Saif Zaib

Match Information

Play is scheduled to begin at 11am on all four days of the match. The match will be played behind closed doors in line with government requirements. 

Supporters can still catch the action through the Sussex Cricket Match Centre, which will host Northants’ live stream as well as a live scorecard, stats and video clips of key moments.