Ollie Robinson has won the Rothesay Men’s Test Player of the Summer after finishing top of the PCA MVP Rankings.

The newly established leader of the England bowling attack, Robinson has taken 28 wickets at an incredible average of 9.32 in his four games against New Zealand and Pakistan.

England began the summer with a 115-run win over New Zealand at Lord’s but eventually fell to a 2-1 defeat during a period of significant transition, with Joe Root returning to the captaincy. Another three-match series saw England breeze past Pakistan, securing the 3-0 victory with an eight-wicket win at Edgbaston.

The PCA’s MVP system compares player performances against expected outcomes for each match, adjusting for venue conditions using CricViz data. The result is a ball-by-ball ranking designed to reflect true performance.

Robinson emphatically re-launched his international career in a seam-dominated summer, becoming the first bowler to be crowned Men’s Test Player of the Summer since Stuart Broad in 2020, after wins for Harry Brook in 2025 and Root in 2024 and 2023.

Starting the Summer as Sussex captain, the 32-year-old went on to earn 152.69 MVP points in Tests after taking 28 wickets. Incredibly, he finished as the Match MVP in three of the four games he played, his highest match total of 41.62 points coming in the second Test against Pakistan. With the bat too, a half-century from 47 deliveries at Edgbaston helped England to a convincing series win.

It was with new ball in hand that he dealt the most damage, though, taking two five-wicket hauls and two four-fers in seven innings. England’s four wins this summer have come only when Robinson has played.

His electric return to the Test side saw him take a triple-wicket maiden in his first England over since February 2024, his first Test wickets since June 2023. He went on to take 5-39 from his 10.5 overs, with 2-38 in the second innings earning him 39.74 MVP points in the England win.

It was the first innings of the following series against Pakistan where he took his second five-fer, earning 34.59 points alongside his 5-51, as England went on to win by an innings and 103 runs.

After England secured the Pakistan series win at Edgbaston, Robinson was awarded his Rothesay Men’s Test Player of the Summer trophy. On winning the award, he said:

“It’s been very special. It’s always nice to get a 3-0 win.

“I thought I’d never play for England again so to get the opportunity this summer and grab it with both hands has been amazing.

“I’ve got that inner drive and new ambition to push on, I know the hard work’s not done yet, there’s still a lot to do, we’re just getting started.”

England white-ball captain Brook finished second after racking up 122.71 MVP points. Scoring 432 runs at an average of 43.2 with five half-centuries, the Yorkshireman also took 13 catches across the summer, earning an impressive 26 fielding points.

He came closer to a century than any other English player in the Pakistan series, crashing 91 from 93 balls in England’s only innings of the first Test.

Nottinghamshire quick Josh Tongue finished third with 113.05 MVP points, after a prolific summer of 27 wickets as part of England’s impressive quartet of seam bowlers.

The 28-year-old took 5-46 in the first innings of the first Pakistan Test, a joint haul with Robinson as both combined to take all 10 Pakistan wickets at Headingley.

Brook leads the England Men’s Overall MVP Rankings on 242.34 points, 84 points ahead of Jofra Archer in second.

The men’s Test squad are back on the field on 17 December in Johannesburg for a hotly anticipated three-match series against South Africa. That series will be followed by a one-off Test against Australia in Melbourne to mark 150 years of Test cricket ahead of a home Ashes series next summer.

View the final Test and Overall Men’s International tables here.

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Sussex skipper Tom Haines made his fifth half-century of the season as their game with Surrey fizzled out into a draw at Hove.

Frustratingly for Haines, he has failed to convert any of those fifties into a hundred and will feel he missed out again. Having got to 63 with few alarms he pulled a long hop from Rahul Chahar to mid-wicket.

Sussex reached 167 for 3 in their second innings - a lead of 240 - when the teams shook hands at 4.20pm after Ollie Pope had bowled only his second over in first-class cricket.

In the final analysis, the loss of the first day’s play to rain proved crucial. 

For there to have been a positive result today Surrey needed to get beyond Sussex’s first innings total of 393 and take early wickets to put them under pressure. In the end, on a slow, true pitch, neither happened.

Surrey still need a few points to make sure they don’t get dragged into a relegation battle but they have put distance between themselves and second-bottom Leicestershire so should be fine, notwithstanding the possible points deduction hanging over the Foxes for preparing a substandard pitch against Glamorgan last month.

Sussex stay fourth and although they are in touch with the three title chasers a more realistic ambition is to emulate last season’s fourth-place finish which would be a considerable achievement considering the 12-point penalty for financial irregularities they started the season with.

And they will have a say in the destination of the title with Nottinghamshire at Hove next week in the penultimate round of fixtures.

When Sussex batted again with a lead of 73 they soon lost George Thomas who was pinned in front by Matt Fisher, but by the 14th over leg-spinner Chahar and fellow Indian Mahipal Lomror (left-arm spin) were getting into their work and they ended up sending down 42 overs between them.

However, with only some slow turn on offer,  it took them 21 overs to make a breakthrough by which time Haines and Charlie Tear added 90 for the second wicket before Tear was lbw to a full-length ball from Lomror the batsman was entitled to think might have been drifting down the leg side.

Haines, who is averaging a modest 28.87 this season, looked unperturbed against the twin spin attack and was mortified when Chahar’s full toss ended up being safely pouched by Rory Burns diving to his left instead of being pummelled over the boundary.

Oli Carter and James Coles put on 36 for the fourth wicket before the game was mercifully put to bed.

Earlier, Surrey’s last three wickets added 27 runs before they were bowled out for 321, a deficit of 73.

Adam Thomas and Fisher extended their eighth-wicket stand to 47 when Thomas drove left-arm spinner Coles’ fifth ball low to extra cover.

Ari Karvelas had Chahan caught low down by wicketkeeper John Simpson for a duck and Fisher picked out mid-on when he tried to hit Jaydev Unadkat over the top.

Sussex off-spinner Jack Carson took his 200th first-class wicket but half-centuries by Ryan Patel, Ben Foakes and Mahipal Lomror kept Surrey’s heads above water at gloomy Hove.

A slow pitch offered little assistance to the Sussex attack but they will be satisfied that Surrey were never able to score at more than three runs an over on an attritional day.

Surrey finished day three on 294 for 7 - trailing by 99 - but with only a day left the game seems certain to end in a draw. 

That would give Surrey more breathing space above the relegation zone and strengthen Sussex’s ambition of at least emulating last season’s fourth-place finish.

There were two moments when Sussex sensed an opportunity. They reduced Surrey to 44 for 3 when Ollie Pope, parachuted into the team after being left out of England’s Test side at Edgbaston, was dismissed for just two.

But Patel and Foakes rebuilt with a stand of 111 in 30 overs before both were dismissed for the addition of eight runs.

That left Surrey 166 for 5 but Indian all-rounder Lomror dug in to good effective. He took 35 balls to score his first boundary and celebrated by cuffing James Coles over the mid-wicket boundary later in the over. 

He had a reprieve on 29 when Tom Haines, who had added Pope to an impressive list of first-class victims which includes Joe Root, returned to the attack and immediately induced a mistimed drive from Mahipol. Sub fielder Joey Evison, running back from mid-off, got both hands to the ball but couldn’t cling on. 

Lomror offered another chance shortly after celebrating his fifty with a pulled six off Jack Leaning. Later in the over Haines couldn’t hold on diving to his left at slip to a thick edge. 

Adam Thomas helped Lomror to add 98 for the sixth wicket before Sussex hit back with the new ball.

Lomror’s luck ran out when he dragged a widish delivery from Hunt onto middle stump and Jaydev Unadkat was finally rewarded in his 15th over when Tom Lawes slashed to backward point, but Thomas and Matt Fisher saw Surrey safely to stumps, which came ten overs early because of bad light.

At the start of the day former Surrey Academy player Sean Hunt who broke through after switching to the Cromwell Road end and removing both openers in successive overs. 

Dom Sibley, dropped on one by Haines off Hunt, nibbled fatally at a ball angled across him by the left-armer before Rory Burns was squared up and Leaning took a fine catch at slip.

In his 100th first-class game, Haines then snuck a ball between Pope’s bat and pad as he pushed forward to hit the off stump. 

But as the ball got softer batting became relatively straightforward. Patel and Foakes accumulated quietly and it was a surprise when Patel was bowled round his legs by Carson trying to withdraw his bat inside the line shortly after lodging his 20th first-class fifty.

When Foakes feathered an underedge to John Simpson standing up to the stumps to reward the persevering Ari Karvelas Sussex’s tails were up, but Lomror rode his luck to help steer Surrey into calmer waters. 

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Charlie Tear made his highest first-class score and there were fifties for Oli Carter and John Simpson as Sussex edged an absorbing day against Surrey at Hove. 

After Tuesday’s washout the chances of either side claiming the win which would put any lingering relegation concerns in the Rothesay County Championship to bed have decreased, but Sussex, who won the toss, will feel they are in better shape after Tear’s 89 underpinned their 393.

Both teams are playing two spinners but it wasn’t until after tea that there was any appreciable assistance. Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar and fellow Indian Mahipal Lomror (left-arm spin) claimed three wickets each and bowled 59 of the 104 overs for a combined return of 6 for 171, but batsmen dominated the day with Tear leading the way.

The 22-year-old caught the eye when he made 61 in a losing cause at the Oval in May and here he settled down for four hours of risk-free accumulation and allowed his partners, particularly Carter and Simpson, to play more aggressively.

He added 99 in 23 overs for the third wicket with Carter and 79 for the fifth in 20 overs with Simpson and at 270 for 4 Sussex were in a strong position before Chahar sparked a Surrey fightback.

Tear only hit four boundaries but in terms of holding the innings together he did a fine job, and it was a surprise when he tried to drive a ball from Chahar, who was into his 15th over, that pitched a yard outside off stump and the edge flew to backward point. No wonder he dragged himself reluctantly back to the pavilion to reflect on an opportunity missed.

Chahar struck again with a googly to beat Jack Leaning’s defensive shot and take out his off stump. 

Then, with the new ball only six overs old, Chahar was brought back on and immediately pinned Jack Carson as he fatally played back.

Surrey had taken four wickets for 51 runs but Ari Karvelas and Sean Hunt hit 65 together for the ninth wicket before Karvelas fell lbw to Lormor and the innings ended when Jaydev Unadkat was stumped off the last ball of the day.

Injuries to Tom Clark and Dan Hughes meant the hosts fielded a rejigged top order with opener George Thomas, who is joining Worcestershire at the end of the season, making his Championship debut.

And he shaped up well, with seven of his eight scoring shots going to the boundary before he fenced outside off stump once too often at the persevering Dan Worrall and Dom Sibley held a low catch at slip.

Lomror came on after just 40 minutes but it was seam that did the trick again for Surrey, Matthew Fisher switched ends and struck immediately when Tom Haines offered a simple catch off a leading edge.

Either side of lunch the impressive Carter, in only his second Championship appearance of the season, refused to let the Surrey attack settle until Fisher, again benefitting from a change of ends, took his second return catch on the day with a low grab in his follow-through off Carter’s straight drive.

James Coles disappointingly missed Lomror’s full toss but Simpson was in attacking mode from the start as he passed 50 for the fifth time this season before Worrall knocked back his off stump with the new ball.

Sussex Retain Cup After Astonishing Run-fest

On Saturday 5 September Sussex Sharks Visually Impaired XI hosted Northamptonshire Steelbacks (Northants) at the beautiful County Ground in Hove. This was the third time the sides had met in the final of the BCEW Primary Club Heindrich Swanepoel Memorial Cup in the last 4 years and expectations for a good match were high.

Dan Field won the toss for the VI Sharks and asked David Howells and his Northants team mates to have a bat.

Northants started strongly with boundaries coming regularly before Bilal Akhtar was caught at point to give Alex Towers the first of his 2 wickets. The second wicket fell at 123, and this brought Asif Ali to the crease who smashed 47 off just 27 balls, when he was run out attempting a risky second run the score had raced on to 287. At the other end David Howells compiled an astonishing innings. He carried his bat for a Cup record 223 not out, hitting 33 x fours and 3 x sixes, facing just 130 balls. The Northants total of 324 was also a record, surpassing the 322 that Sussex had scored at the same venue in the 2023 Final.

For Sussex to have any chance at all it felt like they would have to get off to a flying start, but Northants had other ideas, at 5 overs the Sharks were languishing on 19-2 and with the required rate rocketing, Northants had been 49-0 at the same stage. This brought together Callum Weir and Dan Field who put together an incredible stand of 312 to bring the Sharks home. Callum’s innings of 106 not out had two halves, the first circumspect, scoring at less than a run a ball to get to 50 and then powering on for his maiden century in blind cricket. Callum’s unbeaten 106 off 81 balls included 16 x fours and one six. 

At the other end Dan was struggling with an achillies injury so decided he would deal in boundaries, his 183 not out included 16 x fours and 12 x maximums as he brutalised the Northants bowlers. The final remarkable statistic is that the Sharks got home with 4.2 overs to spare.

The umpires and scorers had the tough job of allocating the man of the match awards, Callum was awarded the partially sighted player as his fielding had also saved a ton of runs. It had been a very difficult game for the totally blind players with not a single run made or catch taken but Dave Daniels 6 overs went for just 43 which were the second most economical of any bowler on the day and fitting that on a batter’s paradise a bowler would make a real difference.

At the end there was thanks to the Primary Club, without whom the game could not function. Massive thanks to Sussex Cricket for hosting again at short notice and providing a fabulous venue for such a prestigious game.

For Northants the season is over, but the Sharks must regroup and go again in two weeks when they face Metro, Kent and Cheshire at the BCEW T20 Finals Day in Wolverhampton, to see if they can finally complete that elusive treble. 

Full scorecard can be viewed here, and the match programme can be viewed here.

Match report courtesy of Ian ‘Tiny’ Morris.

Play was abandoned on the opening day of the Rothesay County Championship game between Sussex and Surrey without a ball being bowled.

After heavy overnight and morning rain it was announced that there would be no play before lunch. And then, shortly before 3pm, umpires Jack Shantry and Nigel Llong called it off for the day. Sixth placed Surrey and even fourth placed Sussex still need points to be safe from relegation.

The weather put a dampener on a Sussex celebration of one of the county’s most famous players, John Wisden, who was born in Brighton 200 years ago, on September 5, 1826. 

Tony Buss was one of the finest fast-medium bowlers produced by Sussex since the war.

It was his misfortune to be overshadowed by two outstanding opening bowlers who would go on to play for England. First came the tireless Ian Thomson, ten years his senior, who was well established in the Sussex side before Buss joined the club. Then came John Snow, two years his junior, who would become one of England’s greatest fast bowlers.

Tony played for the county between 1958-74 and took 958 first-class wickets at 25.04. Three times, between 1965-67, he took 100 wickets in a season and is the last Sussex bowler to perform the feat. Twice, in 1965, he performed the hat-trick, against Cambridge University at Fenner’s and against Derbyshire at Hove. He also managed one in the John Player League, against Warwickshire at Hastings in 1973. His best return was 8-23 against Notts at Hove in 1966.

Sussex waited 119 years for a Buss to come along and then another one arrived almost immediately. Mike Buss, a little over four years Tony’s junior, became an effective all-rounder for the club, who put in some eye-catching performances in one-day cricket.

Both were born in the East Sussex village of Brightling, whose cricket club’s long history reads like a Buss timetable. But Tony “Omni” Buss had a more substantial career than his kid brother, “Mini” Buss.

John Wallace, in his indispensable book 100 Greats of Sussex County Cricket Club, tells us that Alan Oakman spotted Tony playing for Bexhill Grammar School and brought him to Hove for coaching when he was only 14.

When he left school in 1955 he became more strongly associated with the club, though he was regarded as an off-spinner in those days. But Sussex already had three spinners in Robin Marlar, Ron Bell and Oakman, so Buss converted to medium pace, then fast-medium.

He first played for Sussex in 1958 and in 1960 took 50 wickets in a season for the first time. But his cricket career stalled when he did National Service with the Royal Air Force.

When he returned to Sussex he was stronger and a little faster and really established himself in county cricket in 1963, when he won his county cap. In that season, and the following four, he took 515 first-class wickets.

As well as being a prolific wicket-taker he was an accurate and economical bowler. Sussex’s early success in the Gillette Cup, winning the trophy in its first two years, 1963 and 1964, is often attributed to the dashing batting of captain Ted Dexter and Jim Parks.

But just as important, even more so, was the tight bowling from Buss, Snow, Thomson and Don Bates. Crucially, Dexter was the first county captain to realise that one-day cricket was essentially a defensive game and set his fielders deep.

Like many opening bowlers Tony fancied himself as a batsman and had a top score of 83, against Northants at Hove in 1969. He often played the night-watchman role, “Many times I went in as night-watchman and stayed there next morning,” he said.

Towards the end of his career he captained Sussex on occasions, when Tony Greig was playing for England. When he retired from playing, in 1974, he became the club’s coach, and then manager, finally leaving Hove in 1980.

By Paul Weaver

Sussex welcome Surrey to The County Ground, Hove, on Tuesday for the penultimate Rothesay County Championship home match of the campaign.

Both sides are breathing a little easier following respective wins over Essex and Yorkshire last week, with Paul Farbrace's side recording their first win in the competition since mid June. A fifth win of the campaign, though, that sends Sussex up to fourth with three matches remaining, 27 points off the top. 

Positives aplenty in that win over Essex, but chiefly it was seamer Henry Crocombe who stole the spotlight: he took his second hat-trick in back-to-back matches - a first in Sussex Cricket history - as Essex crumbled from 171-3 to 177 all out. This would prove the catalyst for victory, as Sussex moved up to fourth. 

Team News

Despite victory at Chelmsford, opener Dan Hughes was substituted by Oli Carter after suffering a side strain. He, and Tom Clark, who picked up an injury to his knee, both miss the meeting with Surrey. Henry Crocombe is rested after taking hat-tricks in consecutive matches.

Tom Price returns to the squad after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, as George Thomas and Dan Ibrahim also come into the squad.

Squad: Carson, Carter, Coles, Evison, Goodman, Haines, Hunt, Ibrahim, Karvelas, Leaning, T Price, Simpson, Tear, Thomas, Unadkat.

The Opposition

Things were looking a little uncomfortable for Surrey following defeat to Nottinghamshire in the opening match of this final block of Rothesay County Championship matches, but a draw against Essex and a slim yet dramatic one-wicket win over Yorkshire has lifted them closer to midtable with three games to go.

11 points ahead of Leicestershire - who occupy the closest relegation spot - suggests there is still work to do for Surrey who will look to fight for every final point, yet that victory over Yorkshire seemed significant, with it their first win in the competition since the win over Sussex at the beginning of May.

Dan Lawrence has scored the most runs for Surrey in red ball cricket this year, racking up 788 at an average of 65.66. And, with the ball, Matthew Fisher's 32 wickets lead the way, with the seamer taking six in the third innings in their win over Yorkshire last week.

Celebrating 200 Years of John Wisden

Sussex Cricket will mark John Wisden’s bicentenary during the Rothesay County Championship match vs Surrey on September 8th, with a host of activities planned to mark 200 years since Wisden was born at Crown Street, Brighton on September 5, 1826.

To learn more, click here.

Tickets

Tickets for all four days are available via our website, which can be accessed by clicking this link.

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 took an hour and 20 minutes and 21 overs to wrap up the last three Essex wickets and complete a 47-run victory that lifts them clear of any lingering worries about relegation from Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.

However, they met stern resistance from Essex all-rounder Matt Critchley who batted for three-and-a-half hours in defying Sussex’s efforts. He was eventually last man out when he popped up a catch to slip off James Coles for 96 from 132 balls.

It was the third time this season Critchley, who has 838 Championship runs to his name, has been out in the nineties. His innings included two sixes and eight fours.

Shane Snater had given Essex some hope, hitting two sixes himself in a 45-ball cameo that put on 48 for the ninth wicket, but it was merely brief entertainment for the sizeable crowd who had turned up in the hope of a miracle that didn’t happen

Essex had started the fourth day under bright, clear skies needing another 132 for an unlikely victory.

With all day available to them, Critchley and Mitch Killeen suggested they might tackle the task in singles. Critchley punctuated the binary scoring with a firm drive through midwicket for four off Ari Karvelas. Killeen also collected boundaries off the South African seamer, angling the ball wide of the slip cordon to third man and then turning through midwicket.

However, Karvelas gained his revenge when he ended Killeen’s 34-ball resistance with a delivery thar reared up and took the edge through to the wicketkeeper. The eighth wicket had put on 31 runs and used up 11 overs.

When Snater cut Coles for four, the target dropped below 100. He followed that with an audacious six off the spinner over cow corner as caution was scrapped in favour of aggression. Critchley caught the mood and swung Jack Carson for a maximum of his own, to be followed four balls later by another from Snater straight down the ground.

However, that forced an immediate switch that brought back Henry Crocombe and with his third ball he had Snater steering the ball high to second slip’s left. Critchley departed soon after,

The game had turned on a crazy 26-ball spell on the second evening when Essex lost seven wickets, tumbling from 171-3 to 177 all out, with Henry Crocombe claiming a second hat-trick in eight days. That meant Essex conceded a 98-run deficit on first-innings scores from which they never recovered.

With the all-rounder Coles hitting 79 in Sussex’s second innings, Essex were set a mammoth 329 to win in a notional 153 overs. It was always going to be a tall order.

In a tight division in which Essex and Sussex were separated by just one point at the start of the match, victory for the visitors carried them to the anonymity of mid-table; defeat for Essex left them concerned for their Division One status. Both have three games left to enhance their positions.

A feature of the four days was the number of replacements used, both for injuries and international call-ups. To recap, Essex lost seamer Charlie Bennett to a recurring shin splint problem on the first morning (replaced by Porter); Sam Cook to England (substituted by Killeen, recalled from a loan spell at Gloucestershire); and wicketkeeper Michael Pepper with a damaged thumb (replaced by emergency loan signing George Bell from Lancashire).

Sussex, meanwhile lost Australian opener Dan Hughes to a side strain (Oli Carter taking over as injury substitute) and all-rounder Tom Clark to a knee injury that meant he was unavailable to bowl in the fourth innings  They will also lose Crocombe and Coles to the England white-ball squad for most of the run-in.