Cricket fans in Horsham can look forward to an exciting afternoon of T20 action on Sunday 28 June, as a Dean Wilson Sussex Cricket League XI takes on a Sussex Sharks XI at Horsham Cricket Club, starting at 2pm.

With free entry, an open bar and food available, the match promises to be a great day out for supporters and the local cricket community.

The Sussex Cricket League XI features a strong and varied group of players from clubs across the ECB Premier Division. The side will be captained by Nav Patel (Preston Nomads), with the full squad as follows:

Sussex Cricket League XI

Joe Cambridge (Cuckfield)

Johnny Phelps (Haywards Heath)

Luke Beaufort (Three Bridges)

Jonty Jenner (Preston Nomads)

Ryan Maskell (Bognor)

Benji Floros (Middleton)

Joe Walker (Three Bridges)

Alfie Hunter (Hastings)

Toby Munt (Roffey)

Nav Patel (Preston Nomads – Captain)

Ben Lucking (West Chiltington)

They will face a strong Sussex Sharks Men's side, who will rotate players throughout the match. The Sharks squad includes:

Sussex Sharks XI

Daniel Hughes

Harrison Ward

John Simpson

Tom Alsop

James Coles

George Thomas

Jack Carson

Tom Price

Dom Goodman

Sean Hunt

Henry Crocombe

Tymal Mills

Jack Leaning

Oli Carter

Danny Briggs

Danial Ibrahim

Charlie Tear

The match will be officiated by umpires Matt French & Mark Dunford from the Sussex Cricket League panel.

This fixture provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the strength of club cricket in Sussex whilst the Sharks are in action during the business end of their Vitality Blast South group campaign. Horsham Cricket Club is the place to be this Sunday!

On Saturday 20th June London Metro hosted Sussex Sharks Visually Impaired XI in the BCEW National League Division 1. The strange fixture list meant this was Metro’s first game of the campaign and only the Sharks second outing. Rory Field won the toss and had no hesitation in asking the Sharks to have a bat.

Metro started by bowling tight lines and England’s totally blind Sam Hoskins claimed the first of his 4 wickets in the first over and bowled impressively throughout returning figures of 9 overs, 1 maiden 4 wickets for 61 runs. Callum Weir (20) and Dan Field consolidated with a stand of 54 for the 2nd wicket before Hardik Patel took an impressive catch to send Cal on his way. 

Si Ledwith (34) Joined Sharks skipper Dan Field to take the score up to 142 before he was clean bowled by Mo Ghalib, his marathon effort of 10 overs 1 maiden, 3 wickets for 33 runs was an impressive display. Dan Field fell just 3 short of his century when Hardik produced another good catch to dismiss him on 97 with the score at 178. The Sharks battled to get to the 200 for their final batting point and managed this off the last ball of the 30th over declaring on 200 for 8.

Metro had bowled and fielded very well in the heat and with a line-up that batted very deep it seemed the game was nicely poised. However, it was clear from the start that the objective was to get the draw rather than look to chase the score down. 

Nick Ebbeck (13) was trapped in front with the score on 55 in the 13th over by the pick of the Sharks bowlers, 15 year old Deacon Finn returning 2 wickets for 26 from his 4 overs. The Sharks then brought all of the field up to try and force wickets but the day belonged to Thomas Froud. 

His masterful innings of 102 not out off 126 balls was a display of patience and power, with the field in close the bad ball was dispatched to the boundary 14 times and in the 2nd half of the innings he protected his lesser batting partner and the Metro innings closed on 146 for 2.

This means that Metro take 11 points from the game with Sussex just 10, this might be a sound foundation for Metro’s league campaign and leave Sussex lamenting the half chances not taken, but it was a long day for anyone watching and perhaps Metro may wonder what might have been had they tried to chase down the Sussex score.

View the full scorecard from the match here.

Match report courtesy of Ian ‘Tiny’ Morris (T20 Captain)

Hampshire recorded only their second championship win of the season when they beat title-chasing Sussex by 118 runs inside three days at Hove.

Sussex, chasing their fifth victory in eight games, required 253 for victory after bowling out Hampshire for 220 and were favourites when they reached 64 for one at lunch.

Hampshire were once again looking to veteran fast bowler Kyle Abbott to do something heroic. But instead it was fellow fast bowler Eddie Jack who seized the day with figures of four for 36, his best return in his 13th first-class match. And he was well supported by off-spinner Felix Organ who took three wickets.

The sunny conditions favoured the batters, unlike the previous day, but the slight variable bounce in the pitch always offered encouragement to the bowlers and in challenging circumstances Sussex didn’t have a batsman capable of taking the initiative.    

Hampshire had started the third day on 206 for nine, a lead of 238, with last pair Abbott and Jack having already added 33 for the tenth wicket.

They added another 14 runs. Sussex captain Tom Haines took the new ball after ten deliveries but neither Jaydev Unadkat nor Tom Price could find much swing or seam movement.

After just two overs from the sea end Price was replaced by Jack Carson and with his fifth delivery Carson dismissed Jack, who was caught just inside the long-on boundary by Sean Hunt.

Sussex started their pursuit amid great tension, with the result of crucial importance to both sides. Every run was cheered by a large crowd who were given free admission. But there was also a large contingent of Hampshire supporters.

Hampshire broke through in the third over when Haines was lbw to Abbott for a duck. But left-handers Dan Hughes and former Hampshire player Tom Alsop swung the match Sussex’s way.

Runs were hard to come by but then Hughes drove Jack for three fours in an over, through the covers, straight and through midwicket.

At lunch Sussex looked the better bet, with Hampshire hopes resting primarily on Abbott. But it was Jack, charging in from the sea end, who swung the match towards the visiting side with two wickets in consecutive overs.

At 67 he had Hughes lbw as the batsman attempted to flick a full length delivery through midwicket, ending a partnership worth 58 runs.

Then, without addition, he had Jack Leaning caught behind for a pair, the ball just carrying to former Sussex captain Ben Brown.

At the other end Tom Alsop was playing with calm assurance. But when he had scored 37 he cut Felix Organ to backward-point where Scott Currie claimed the catch. But Alsop didn’t move and he was eventually given not out by the square-leg umpire.

It felt like a turning point but Alsop had added just six runs before he edged the same bowler to Toby Albert at first slip. And in the next over the game turned sharply in Hampshire’s direction when James Coles was caught behind attempting to cut a short, wide delivery from Jack.

Jack struck again in his next over, having Tom Price caught down the leg side. And then Organ struck twice in two deliveries, having Carson caught at short-leg and Dom Goodman caught behind. At tea Sussex were 134 for eight.

Without addition, John Simpson was caught at mid-on off Abbott and Sussex lost their last wicket next ball when Unadkat was caught in the gulley first ball. Sussex had lost their last nine wickets for 70 runs after lunch.

South African pair Kyle Abbott and Delano Potgieter made crucial contributions to give Hampshire the chance of claiming their second win of the season in the Rothesay County Championship.

After 13 wickets on day one at Hove the second saw 16 more fall as Sussex were bowled out for 159 with Abbott taking six in an innings for the second time this season.

Potgieter, in his last match for the county, made 55 – the highest score of the match so far – to lead a recovery from 66 for six to 205 for nine at stumps. Hampshire’s lead is 238 but Sussex will feel confident of a successful chase if batting tomorrow is as comfortable as it looked in the second half of today. 

They had started only 70 runs behind but within 75 minutes had been bowled out for 159, losing their remaining seven wickets for just 31 runs in 11.1 overs to concede a first-innings deficit of 32. 

Abbott was the destroyer-in-chief, taking his Championship wicket haul to 36 during a high-class spell of five for 17 in seven overs.

A canopy of cloud and a sultry atmosphere were perfect conditions for a bowler of Abbott’s skill but he bowled an immaculate length and benefitted from some injudicious shot selection by the Sussex batsmen.

The ball to spark the collapse at Tom Alsop was a good one that angled in and left him off pitch but James Coles was guilty of aiming a big drive well outside off stump and John Simpson played fatally away from his body.

Jack Carson’s off stump was uprooted by a delivery which swung a lot and Dom Goodman was caught at point off a big leading edge.

Eddie Jack rounded things off with two wickets in an over and Abbott finished with six for 49.

Hampshire found conditions just as testing when they went in again. It took them 25 balls to get their first run and both openers departed at the end of a fast-forward session which saw nine wickets and just 47 runs scored.

They were soon 26 for 5 as Tom Price produced a skilful burst which brought him three wickets including Jake Lehmann, who lost his middle and off stumps to one which nipped back through his defences. Former Sussex captain Ben Brown bagged a pair to give Jaydev Unadkat his second wicket during a miserly spell of 10-5-16-2.

Ali Orr began the fightback against his former county with a gutsy 34 including a pulled six into the pavilion in Dom Goodman’s first over, but two balls later Orr nicked to wicketkeeper John Simpson off an inside edge to leave Hampshire 66 for 6.

But then the sun finally burst through and suddenly batting looked a much less hazardous occupation.

Potgieter and Felix Organ put on 94 in 31 overs either side of tea and although Sussex skipper Tom Haines wasn’t afraid to change things up for the first time in the match, bat was dominating the ball.

Off-spinner Carson made the breakthrough. Potgeiter batted for nearly three hours and his half-century might still prove crucial, but he was furious with himself when he picked out mid-wicket trying to drive through square.

Organ (48) was brilliantly caught by Jack Leaning diving to his left at second slip, but Jack and Abbott combined to frustrate Sussex again with an unbroken last-wicket stand of 33 to help set up an intriguing finale.

By Paul Weaver, ECB Reporters’ Network supported by Rothesay.

The match between the second team in the championship’s top division and the one second from bottom went to form at Hove as Sussex bowled out Hampshire for 191 in 60.4 overs.

Hampshire have taken only three batting points this season – all the other sides in the division are in double figures – and opener Nick Gubbins was the only batter to pass fifty.

Sussex skipper Tom Haines maintained his side’s dominance with a 57-ball 52 before Hampshire kept themselves in the match by dismissing both openers and then dismissing Jack Leaning lbw for a duck shortly before the end of the opening day.

The first session belonged to Sussex, which looked unlikely when Hampshire, who chose to bat, were 54 without loss after an hour’s play.

Neither Sean Hunt nor Dom Goodman posed difficult questions and though Jaydev Unadkat was unlucky, and conceded just nine runs from his eight overs, Sussex did not exert real control until Tom Price came on at the sea end and was joined by Haines at the Cromwell Road end. They were the pick of the bowlers.

Hampshire, for whom spinner Andrew Neal made his first-class debut, lost their first wicket in the 17th over when Toby Albert inside-edged Price onto his stumps. It was Price’s 100th first-class wicket.

At 65 Haines was jubilant after bowling his old Sussex opening partner Ali Orr, the batsman playing forward and inside the line of the ball.

In the last over before lunch Jake Lehmann, in prolific form this season, was furious with himself after being given out lbw to Haines for ten and Hampshire were 83 for three at the interval.

A double strike by Price after lunch set Hampshire back on their heels. Gubbins had just reached his fourth half-century of the season when, attempting to pull, he got a top edge and keeper John Simpson took a difficult, swirling catch.

Two balls later Price got one to straighten and former Sussex captain Ben Brown had his off stump knocked back for a duck.

Three overs later off-spinner Jack Carson got one to turn and the left-handed Delano Potgieter, playing his last match for Hampshire 

Tom Prest and Felix Organ responded to the difficult situation with some perky, positive batting, seeking runs and running hard.

But Organ fell at 142. Goodman returned for a second spell from the Cromwell Road end and was fortunate not to have his first delivery called a wide. Organ tried, and failed, to reach it. He just managed to reach the next ball but steered it straight to Carson at gulley.

Prest deserved a fifty but was one run short when he backed away to play through the off-side and was bowled by a quicker arm ball from James Coles.

Unadkat finally got a deserved wicket when he had Neal caught in the gulley and the innings ended when Eddie Jack was caught on the deep midwicket boundary off Carson.

Sussex will look to continue their immaculate home record in the Rothesay County Championship this coming weekend as Hampshire make the short journey over the county border. 

With the sun slowly sinking on Sunday afternoon, many present at Hove at the Tea interval on Day Three versus Glamorgan would've likely expected to return for a fourth and final day. With Sussex still requiring a further seven wickets, captain Tom Haines orchestrated an almighty batting collapse that led to a crushing innings and 98 run victory - a win that temporarily sent them top of Division One before Essex overtook them the following day.

It was the third home match in the competition for Paul Farbrace's side, and indeed the third victory at Hove, too. With Henry Crocombe selected for a maiden England call-up during the match, this was the game for another uncapped English starlet to flourish: James Coles producing one of the best innings Hove has seen, reaching 224* that featured 11 sixes.

The attention quickly swivels to this weekend, where they face a Hampshire side desperate for points as they look nervously over their shoulders near the foot of the table. 

Team News

Farbrace has confirmed a 14-player squad for Sussex's hosting of Hampshire, with Dan Ibrahim replacing Henry Crocombe - who is away on international duty with England - the only change to the squad that cruised past Glamorgan last weekend.

Tom Clark will be out for a couple of months as he recovers from a knee injury, while Fynn Hudson-Prentice continues to miss out through injury.

Squad: Alsop, Carson, Carter, Goodman, Coles, Haines, Hughes, Hunt, Ibrahim, Leaning, Price, Simpson, Tear, Unadkat.

New for 2026, you can sponsor our players or coaches! Have your company name included on squad lists in our Match Preview articles and social media outlets. To find out more, visit https://sussexcricket.co.uk/player-coach-sponsorship

The Opposition 

With one win to their name thus far, it's been a challenging start to red ball cricket for Hampshire who currently sit second-from-bottom, four points off the foot of the table.

After signing a two-year-deal back in December, Jake Lehmann has been a bright spark in an otherwise under-performing Hampshire batting line-up, racking up an impressive 654 runs from six matches - the fifth-most runs in the division.

Former Sussex player, Ben Brown, has similarly started the campaign strongly with the bat, though they'll be looking for an improved showing with their average innings total languishing at 234 after seven County Championship matches. Their batting bonus points total of 3 is comfortably the lowest in the division, indicating that their first innings scores have not been sufficient. 

But with the ball things are better: 18 bonus points is three more than Sussex's amount, and it's mainly to do with the perennially proficient Kyle Abbott, who has claimed 30 wickets at an average of 19.36. Sonny Baker has also impressed, but that has already been recognised by England's selectors, who have called him up for the ongoing Test against New Zealand, and so misses out. 

Spectator Information

Gates will open for all four days at 9.30am, with the toss taking place at 10.30am and the first ball at 11am.

Supporters are advised to arrive early if they need to visit the Ticket Office. We strongly recommend that all non-members purchase their tickets in advance, online here. 

Free Entry to Day Three

On Sunday, our tradition of opening our doors to the public continues with the third day of the match completely free of charge to all spectators. 

Join us for a day of the finest County Cricket in the sunshine this Father's Day. All you need to do is claim a free ticket online, in advance, to gain entry into Hove.

You can make a day of it by treating Dad to our special Father's Day Carvery for just £25!

How to Follow

You can watch every ball, free of charge, via our Match Centre. You will need to register for a free account to access the stream, statistics, replays and live scorecard. Follow our social media channels for behind-the-scenes content and post-match interviews. 

Sussex Surge Past Surrey with Fine All-Round Display

Sussex arrived at The Saffrons, Eastbourne, for a crucial D40 Quest - South fixture against Surrey knowing the stakes with absolute clarity. Win and climb to second with the league’s summit in sight, lose and the summer could turn sour. 

The mood, though, was buoyant. Several first-teamers returned after the Hampshire trip two weeks prior, and with them came a quiet confidence. Captain Owen Piper won the toss and backed his batters on a hard, used surface -calculated logic suggested the pitch would tire and take spin later.

The opening exchanges were anything but straightforward. On a two-paced strip where fuller balls could stop and keep low while the short stuff hurried through chest-high, Sussex stumbled to 19–2 after five. Both openers, Elliot Brown (6) and Ferguson (1), perished as the surface revealed some difficulties in nature. James Bunday, compact and composed, steadied the reply with precious early ballast before a lifting short ball exploded off the deck and ended his stay for a valuable 19—small on paper, significant in context.

That brought together two of Sussex’s most assertive stroke-makers in Eddie Spence and Alfie Pyle. They understood the day required tempo as much as technique and kept the rate healthy despite the early attrition. Pyle’s cover drives, crisp and authoritative, punctured the ring and reset the tone, nudging Sussex to 71–3 at the 15 over mark. Moments later, the pitch bit again: another misbehaving bouncer climbed awkwardly and Pyle spooned to midwicket, 71–4 with the balance perilously poised.

Sensing the game’s rhythm, Piper manoeuvred the order, delaying his own entry to target the softer, older ball, and sent in Aston Stuart and then Dan Gee to keep the board moving. Spence, at the other end, settled into his trademark front-foot rhythm, punching straight and pouncing on anything with width. Gee’s contribution was especially impressive, 32 off 25 built on judgment, picking moments to counter while respecting the good ball. When Spence finally fell with Sussex 143–6, the contest hovered on a knife edge.

It was then that Piper stamped the day with a captain’s innings. Surrey turned to former England international Taylor Young for a powerplay of their own; Piper went the other way. He detonated, launching 21 off a single over to hurl momentum Sussex’s way and transform an even contest into one bending decisively towards the hosts. With sturdy lower-order support from Jack Challen, Jake Vosloo and Declan Dexter, Piper’s surge lifted Sussex to 210 all out - above par on a surface that kept the bowlers interested. The tail’s contribution, though modest in runs, was rich in value: strike rotated, good balls respected, and just enough pressure reapplied to deny Surrey a cheap finish.

If Sussex edged the first act, they seized the second from the opening chords. Dan Gee and Dexter delivered an outstanding new-ball burst, hunting the top of off and letting the pitch’s natural variation do the rest. The pair suffocated Surrey’s start, conceding just seven runs and removing two in the first six overs. Dexter’s initial spell of 5 overs, 1–13, was as disciplined as it was incisive, a passage he himself judged his best yet in Sussex colours. Stumps were targeted, runs were rationed, and the chase was forced into survival mode.

Surrey’s middle order swung the pendulum back with a measured counter. Jonny Gale, as polished as ever, punished anything fractionally off line and cashed in after a couple of tough chances went down. Alongside him, Taylor Young muscled Surrey into contention as Sussex briefly loosened their lines. It felt like a hinge moment: remove Gale and authority returns; miss the window and the chase tightens.

Enter Pyle with a ball of cold-blooded precision. A brilliant yorker burst through Gale for 38, and with that one act Sussex reclaimed the day. The follow-up brought a taste of Surrey’s earlier medicine, short and hostile, and Young’s attempted hook off a bouncer resulted in a simple catch behind the stumps off the bowling of Fergurson, Aston Stuart taking cleanly for 22. At 95–4 after 19. Sussex’s speedsters had done their part; now came the squeeze.

Sussex turned to left-arm wrist spin and their trump card and Vosloo struck in his first over, Green undone by drift and dip and smartly stumped by Stuart, whose glovework throughout was sharp. From there, the finish was systematic. Lines tightened, fields set the trap, and the wicket column began to roll. Pyle and Vosloo shared the honours in the close, three for Pyle, four for Vosloo. As Surrey were dismissed for 143, handing Sussex a 67-run victory that felt both hard-edged and fully earned. Fielding discipline told in the margins: angles cut off, singles denied, and the pressure of dots compounding into mistakes at exactly the right times.

What made the performance resonate wasn’t a lone headline act, but an 11-player contribution threaded through the afternoon. Bunday’s 19 in testing conditions, Gee’s intelligent 32, Spence’s front-foot authority, Piper’s explosive intervention, the discipline of Gee and Dexter with the new ball, Pyle’s game-turning yorker, Vosloo’s control and threat at the death, and Stuart’s handywork behind the sticks, each piece mattered. Challen’s composure in support roles also told of a group growing in confidence with every role fulfilled. The dressing-room takeaway was simple, play as a team and the wins will follow.

The table now reflects the effort: Sussex climb to second with a trip to Essex in two weeks’ time that will frame the back half of the campaign. On a used pitch that demanded craft and courage, Sussex found both, marrying intent with intelligence and showing the kind of adaptability that wins tight games, a trait that was lacking last year. 

No single superstar performance, then - just a composed, collective statement when the season asked a searching question. Sussex answered it.

View the full scorecard from the match here.

Match report courtesy of Elliot Brown (Vice-captain)

Coles double takes Sussex within touching distance of the top

Sussex star James Coles has been named Rothesay County Championship Player of the Round after a masterful unbeaten maiden Championship double-century helped his side to a crushing victory over Glamorgan at Hove.

Coles scored 224 not out from 226 balls, hitting 22 fours and 11 sixes, as Sussex replied to Glamorgan’s first-innings 155 with 521. He then took 3-34 with his left-arm spin to see Glamorgan bowled out for 268 and Sussex come out as victors by an innings and 98 runs.

“It’s pretty incredible, I didn’t think I was going to do that anytime soon,” Coles told ecb.co.uk about passing the 200 mark in first-class cricket for the first time. “It was a pretty special day.”

Going into the match, Coles had scored an unbeaten 63 for England Lions against South Africa A, a knock that stood him in good stead as he returned to four-day cricket.

“That Lions game helped because I did well against some seriously good bowlers. It gave me a bit of confidence. Netting before as well, I was feeling like I was in a good place.

“My main mindset going in after watching Glamorgan’s first innings was that the pitch was doing a fair amount, so I was conscious about making sure I left well. It’s probably the best I’ve left all season. I was pretty disciplined outside off, which I probably haven’t been for most of the season this year.”

On accelerating through the innings, he said: “Batting with the tail, you get a bit of a licence. That’s where I caught up a bit towards the end. I’d scored a double-ton once at school, but that’s a bit different!

“It didn’t actually cross my mind. The moment of realisation was when I took a single on 198 and took one off the third ball of an over and left Jaydev [Unadkat] with three balls. Prior to that, I’d only been leaving him with two balls. I thought ‘if I’ve left myself stranded here because he gets out because I’ve left him an extra ball, I’m going to be seething!’

“Before that, there wasn’t a lot of thought going into it. I reckon I was only on 130 when Jaydev walked out. I didn’t think 200 was really on the cards, but he played very well.”

Sussex now sit second in the Division One table, just one point behind leaders Essex despite starting the season with a 12-point deduction due to the club’s financial problems.

“We’re just rolling with it at the minute, but I think this game has given the boys a lot of confidence,” Coles said. “We’ve got a really nice balance to our team – two spinners and our seamers all have a bit of variety and are all bowling well.

“That third innings was the best bowling performance I’ve seen from us. We completely controlled the game. They batted well but then we got them in a cluster. That basically sums up four-day cricket and how you’re meant to play it.

“It was a pretty special game for us. Obviously, there’s a lot of cricket still to be played, but fingers crossed.”

Coles received the maximum of three votes for his brilliant innings. Durham’s Matthew Potts also received three votes and has gone top of the leaderboard after his 10-wicket match haul against Derbyshire, including second-innings figures of 8-66.

Dan Lawrence of Surrey was awarded three votes for his incredible batting in Surrey’s draw with Hampshire that saw him score 218 and 101, while 18-year-old Thomas Rew received three votes for his 68 and 127 not out, his maiden first-class ton, in Somerset’s crushing win over champions Nottinghamshire.

There were also three votes for Yorkshire’s Will Luxton, who also hit his first first-class century, 167, in Yorkshire’s draw with Warwickshire, and three votes for England’s Jordan Cox who returned to Championship action with 204 in Essex’s six-wicket win over Leicestershire.

Northamptonshire’s Saif Zaib was given three votes for his knock of 142 in his side’s victory over Gloucestershire, Kent’s Bangladeshi international Hasun Mahmud received three for his nine wickets on debut in the win against Lancashire, including second-innings figures of 6-69, and Middlesex skipper Leus du Plooy picked up three after scoring 85 and 101 not out in a 141-run victory over Worcestershire.

Leaderboard: 10 – Matthew Potts (Durham); 8 – Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Craig Overton (Somerset), Ben Raine (Durham); 7 – Tom Abell (Somerset), Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), James Rew (Somerset); 6 – Matt Critchley (Essex), Jake Lehmann (Hampshire).

Round Eight votes

Division One

Surrey v Hampshire: 3 – Dan Lawrence (Surrey), 2 – Dom Sibley (Surrey), 1 – Jake Lehmann (Hampshire).

Sussex v Glamorgan: 3 – James Coles (Sussex), 2 – Jaydev Unadkat (Sussex), 1 – Tom Haines (Sussex).

Nottinghamshire v Somerset: 3 – Thomas Rew (Somerset), Craig Overton (Somerset), 1 – Jordan Hermann (Somerset).

Yorkshire v Warwickshire: 3 – Will Luxton (Yorkshire), 2 – Ed Barnard (Warwickshire), George Hill (Yorkshire).

Leicestershire v Essex: 3 – Jordan Cox (Essex), 2 - Lewis Hill (Leicestershire), 1 – Shane Snater (Essex).

Division Two

Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire: 3 – Saif Zaib (Northamptonshire), 2 – James Bracey (Gloucestershire), 1 – Calvin Harrison (Northamptonshire).

Lancashire v Kent: 3 – Hasan Mahmud (Kent), 2 – Keith Dudgeon (Kent), 1 – Harry Finch (Kent).

Durham v Derbyshire: 3 – Matthew Potts (Durham), 2 – Harry Came (Derbyshire), 1 – Kasey Aldridge (Durham).

Worcestershire v Middlesex: 3 – Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), 2 – Zafar Gohar (Middlesex), 1 – Sebastian Morgan (Middlesex).

ends

Sussex moved to the top of the First Division of the Rothesay County Championship with their fourth victory in seven matches when they beat Glamorgan by an Innings and 98 runs inside three days at Hove.

 Tom Haines, captain in the absence of England’s Ollie Robinson, led the way with three wickets for five runs with his tight medium pace but there were also three for James Coles and two for Dom Goodman on debut after England’s call-up of Henry Crocombe during the match. 

Determined Glamorgan batting frustrated the Sussex bowlers for much of the day but the visiting side lost two wickets just before lunch and three more shortly after tea which sealed their fate. 

Glamorgan resumed on 42 without loss, still 324 runs behind, but perhaps inspired by memories of their second innings score of 737 to save the match here three years ago after trailing by 358 on the first innings.

Openers Zain-ul-Hassan and Asa Tribe batted with great doggedness against a wide variety of Sussex bowlers.

Tribe reached fifty from 98 deliveries when he worked Jack Carson through midwicket for his sixth four. The hundred came up in the 35th over and ul-Hassan had scored just 25 at that stage.

Ten minutes before lunch Haines chucked the ball to spinner James Coles. Haines might have been thinking of improving his side’s -4 over-rate at the time.

But the move worked. With only his second ball Coles dismissed ul-Hassan, who clipped the ball firmly off his toes only to see Tom Alsop, at short-leg, pull off a fine reflex catch.

Three overs later, the last before lunch, Glamorgan lost their second wicket when Tribe was bowled by Carson. The ball spun sharply but Tribe should have played forward.

That last over before the break was something of a surprise. New batsman Kiran Carlson, the Glamorgan captain, had done some ostentatious gardening in the previous over and the clock appeared to be showing 1pm when the umpires allowed another over -possibly because of the time-wasting that had gone on.

From the fourth delivery of that last over before lunch Carlson had also taken a sharp single when the Sussex fielders thought the ball was dead. 

The ball had been fielded by Alsop and thrown to bowler Carson. Carson allowed the ball to hit him and run away a few feet while he rubbed his hand in the dirt to get more grip. 

The umpires allowed the single. But Tribe appeared to have mentally checked out for the interval when he played his false stroke. He had batted almost three hours for his 126-ball 64.

In an attritional afternoon session Glamorgan scored 92 runs for the loss of one wicket. While Carlson dug in Ben Kellaway, who had played an impressive cameo in the first innings, looked even better, hitting seven fours in his 55 before, half-forward, he was lbw to one that moved in from Haines. 

At 212-3 at tea, Glamorgan could have felt proud of their rearguard action. But then the Sussex fought back.

From the last ball of the first over after the break Colin Ingram edged Haines to Alsop at first slip for a pair. Two overs later Carlson was run out for 32 by Dom Goodman at square-leg, slipping after bing sent back by Sean Dickson.

And it was three wickets in four overs when Dickson, playing at a wide delivery from Haines, was caught by Jack Leaning at second slip.

A stand of 42 for the seventh wicket  was ended when Chris Cooke, who had been caught off a no-ball and dropped at slip, was lbw to Coles.

Goodman took his first wickets for Sussex when he had Tom van der Gugten and Tom Norton caught behind in the same over before Coles finished the game by bowling last man Ryan Hadley.

James Coles made a magnificent career-best 224 not out as Sussex built a commanding position after two days against Glamorgan in the Rothesay County Championship at Hove.

The 22-year-old helped Sussex’s last four wickets put on 232 in a total of 521, their highest of the season.

Glamorgan went in again with a deficit of 358 but openers Asa Tribe and Zain ul-Hassan reached 42 for 0 in 12 overs before the close, including three from Dom Goodman who has come into the Sussex team as replacement for Henry Crocombe who called into England’s squad for the second Test when his Sussex colleague Ollie Robinson reported soreness in his knee. 

Coles scored 1032 runs with four hundreds in his debut Division One campaign in 2025 but came into the game with a modest 253 Championship runs in 12 innings. There was a hint that he was coming back into form when he made an unbeaten 63 for England Lions against South Africa A earlier this week and it wasn’t until he homed in on his double hundred that he offered a chance today.

He struck 22 fours and took advantage of a short boundary to pepper the pavilion with the majority of his 11 sixes. 

Glamorgan must have hoped they could keep their first innings arrears down to manageable proportions when Tom Price was sixth out at 289 and the deficit 134.

But Coles and the lower order had other ideas and a punishing last-wicket stand of 103 – a new record against Glamorgan - between Coles and Jaydev Unadkat, of which the No.11 contributed 12, only added to their pain.

Coles timed the ball exquisitely from the start and he went to his fifty in the over before lunch by taking 15 off the otherwise parsimonious Tim van der Gugten, including two sixes. 

A century looked inevitable even then and a straight drive off the same bowler took Coles to his ninth first-class hundred, but he was only warming up. Carson contributed a solid 46 to a seventh-wicket stand of 114 and although Sussex lost three wickets in adding 15 runs Coles found a reliable ally in Unadkat as he went through the gears against a tiring attack.

Unadkat was dropped on eight and Coles took that as a cue to go for his shots. Two sixes off Tom Norton, one of which sailed out of the ground took the lead past 300 and even with a double hundred in sight he still attacked.

It ought to have led to his dismissal, but he was dropped by Mason Crane on the mid-wicket boundary in the same over that Crane and Sean Dickson nearly collided going for a catch which neither took.

A boundary through backward point off off-spinner Ben Kellaway took Coles to his double hundred and when he walked off after Unadkat was lbw to Crane every Glamorgan player sportingly shook his hand. He faced 226 balls and batted for a shade over six-and-a-half hours.

It ended up being a chastening day for Glamorgan, but to their credit it wasn’t until Coles and Unadkat came together that they started to look ragged in the field. 

During the first two sessions they had chipped away with van der Gugten and Kellaway going for less than three runs an over, a considerable achievement especially when Coles was finding his range.

Dan Hughes had made 72 before he was pinned by a grubber from Kellaway but that was one of the few balls which misbehaved in batting conditions that were in stark contrast to the first day when 12 wickets fell under heavy cloud cover.

That should give Glamorgan hope that they can still save the game as well as the knowledge that in this fixture in 2023 they conceded a first-innings deficit of 358 but escaped with a draw after scoring 737 in their second innings.