Winter Watch | Week 2

It's the next instalment of our weekly Winter Watch series, shining the light on all our players' whereabouts over the winter period. We've got news from Hong Kong, Hawke's Bay and Perth, amongst a smattering of other settings in that section of the sphere. We start in alphabetical order, and we start in Australia...

Mollie Adams

Another fine winter in Australia for our exciting wicket-keeper/batter recently reached new heights with the announcement of her selection for the forthcoming England Women U19 training squad. In the meantime, she's been starring for Manly Warringah, north of Sydney. 

And it was a good weekend for Mollie and her Manly side, shrugging off back-to-back losses in a thrilling victory over St-George Sutherland. This was her finest outing of the winter: blasting a quickfire 35 before playing an equally important role with the bat in the super over. Fun stuff!

Jofra Archer

We're a bit in the midst of Jofra's outing, so too Tom Haines. For both are currently locked in battle as England's preparations for the Ashes commenced with a three-day match with England Lions. It was just the lone wicket of Matthew Potts for Archer on the opening day, but he'd impress with the bat on Day 2 - finishing not out on 27.

Heading into the final day, which you can follow via this link, England currently lead the Lions by 51 runs. Read on for how Haines fared...

Anna Buckle

There can be little denying that this was also Anna's most complete performance of the winter to date. Vice captaining UTS North Sydney W2, her outing with the ball last weekend was effective, ruthless and, well, pretty sublime. 10 overs bowled, three wickets claimed. And all for the loss of a mere 32 runs. They were defeated - these things happen - though for Anna it appears she is just getting started. 

Oli Carter

Things have been on an upward trajectory for Oli over in Adelaide with Sturt Cricket Club, playing a mixture of every format. In their most recent fixture on Sunday, which also handed Josh de Caires his Sturt debut, they earned a 26-run victory over Adelaide University. Oli third-top scored with a breezy 22 from 18 deliveries, and behind the stumps he handed de Caires a first Sturt wicket - stumping Jackson Gillespie to cement the win.

James Coles

One of the very few to get a call-up for the coveted Hong Kong Sixes tournament, James joined Toby Albert, Dan Mousley, Ethan Brookes, George Hill, Joe Denly and Tom Aspinwall as part of the England contingent. 

The opening two group games were a washout, and so a single victory over the host nation earned England a semi-final with Kuwait. A duck and a wicket was the order of business for Coles in the quarter-final, yet his fortunes changed against Kuwait, even if England's suffered. An explosive knock of 55 from a mere 18 deliveries proved to be not quite enough as the opponents completed a 37-run victory having posted 142-5 from their six overs. Absurd.

Next up for our precocious all-rounder is the upcoming SA20 competition in South Africa, where he will feature for Sunrisers Eastern Cape. That all starts on 27 December.

Tom Haines

The aforementioned opener has been enjoying some sunshine time Down Under with his fellow England Lions, as they prepare for their own Series with a warm-up fixture against England. Yep, it's Archer vs Haines, but it was Ben Stokes who picked up the wicket of our opening batter for the score of 20. He'll likely get another crack at it on the third and final day that'll commence in the early hours of the eve...

Dan Hughes

Our other opening batsman has been playing his cricket this winter for Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club Dolphins, based at Waverly Oval, Bondi. Following a fairly slow start with the bat, Dan recorded his highest score of the winter last time out in a five-wicket win over Northern District.

Dan Ibrahim

It's the performance of the winter to date. Featuring for Central Hawkes Bay over in New Zealand, Dan top-scored in the match last Saturday with a brilliant 76. This being a two-day+ match that is played over consecutive Saturdays, the result won't be known until this time tomorrow. But regardless of what occurs in the latter stages of the fixture, it's been a very positive week indeed.

Nathan McAndrew

Nathan's Sheffield Shield campaign for South Australia improved yesterday after his side claimed a first victory of the season against Tasmania. McAndrew played his part, taking a wicket and proving resilient with the bat alongside Ben Manenti to help steer his team home to a narrow three-wicket win.

Ollie Robinson

It was a season with Sussex limited due to injury, but one that remained consistently effective. In the hope of a smoother campaign next time around, Ollie is putting in the hard yards over in Australia, first playing for Sydney University before moving onto Tuggeranong Valley Cricket Club. He's played one game since touching down in Sydney, and he claimed a wicket, too. The ensuing day's play will take place overnight, before he moves onto Canberra for the first 1st Grade T20 Competition.

Jayden Seales 

After sealing a superb win over New Zealand in the opening match of the five-game IT20 series, the tides turned and the hosts swiftly responded to record a 3-1 series win. Three wickets in the opening match would be the total of Jayden's wickets in the series, though in only three of the five matches did he feature.

Three ODI's, starting with the first on Sunday (1am GMT) precedes a flurry of Tests in a busy winter for the first-rate fast bowler.

John Simpson

Opting for some franchise cricket this winter, it's off to Nepal for our first-class captain and wicket-keeper where he will feature for Kathmandu Gurkas in the upcoming Nepal Premier League.

And it's next week when the games will begin, with his Gurkas outfit facing Janakpur Bolts in the competition's curtain raiser on Monday, at 10.15am GMT.

George Thomas

A solid effort with the bat and a birthday to boot is what we have to report on George who, like Dan Ibrahim, is also playing over in New Zealand, and in the same division! In the current match that will reach its conclusion tomorrow, George has already made his mark with a well-earned 38 in the first innings. 

U18 World Junior League

So, in addition to the various efforts from Sussex players across the globe, six Sussex Academy players have been relishing in the U18 World Junior League, with the Grand Final literally taking place as these words are typed. 

Three of the six (Louie Lawrence, Alfie Smethurst and Ramsay Trainer) are all competing for London House Kings, with all three featuring in the starting XI. For highlights, you can visit this link.

Sussex Memberships for 2026 are now on sale at early bird prices! Sign up before 19th November to take advantage of the discount and join Good Old Sussex by the Sea. More information: https://sussexcricket.co.uk/2026-membership