Five counties have a won one, drawn two record in Division One and the two teams on top meet this week at Trent Bridge. Nottinghamshire finished one above the relegation places last season, while Sussex were promoted, indicating how wide open this year’s competition is.
In the last round, Notts were deprived of victory over Warwickshire by the rain. They established a 274 runs first innings lead, having dismissed the Bears for just 93 and then had them 181/6 in their second innings.
Australian quick, Fergus O’Neill leads the overall Championship wicket taking with 18 wickets at 14.72, but this will be his last game before he is replaced by Mohammad Abbas. He has been well supported by Brett Hutton (10 wickets) and Josh Tongue (nine wickets).
On the batting side, skipper Haseeb Hameed has made a solid start to the season, scoring 296 runs at 98.66, including an unbeaten century in the last game. Lyndon James, Jack Haynes and Ben Slater have all reached the 200 run mark, while Kyle Verreyne has made 160 runs in just three innings.
Sussex held Champions Surrey last week, having taken part in a high scoring draw against Warwickshire in week one and then outplaying Somerset in the second round, making 501/7 declared in their second innings. This was based on centuries from their leading runs scorers so far this season, Tom Haines and John Simpson. They are currently first and third in the overall rankings for Division One, with Daniel Hughes sixth and Tom Clark 12th.
To win matches you need wicket taking bowlers and Jayden Seales leads the way for Sussex with 10 at 38.40. He is due to play the first block of county games. The win over Somerset was due in no small part to a nine wicket haul from Sean Hunt, but this appearance will be the only one for at least three months, as he suffered a shoulder injury during the game. Ollie Robinson has taken just four wickets in his two matches so far, while Fynn Hudson Prentice and the two spinners, James Carson and Jack Coles have each taken five. Sussex will be hoping for a few more from Robinson and Carson especially.
This should be an interesting contest with Sussex having the edge in the batting department and Nottinghamshire on the bowling side.
Key Players
Brett Hutton was sorely missed by Nottinghamshire for a large part of last season and it is no surprise that he is heavily involved in their current success. He has 326 first class wickets to his name at 25.80 and can also contribute useful runs, although has yet to reach three figures.
Sussex are scoring runs for fun, but to keep winning matches they will need to take a few more wickets. Jayden Seales has returned to play the early season fixtures as he did last year and Sussex will be hoping for a similar return. Last summer he took 24 wickets in his six matches at 24.25 and he bowls with genuine pace.
Team news
Nottinghamshire’s Dillon Pennington picked up a minor side strain against Essex and will be out for at least a few weeks.
Nottinghamshire squad (from): Haseeb Hameed (c), Farhan Ahmed, Joe Clarke, James Hayes, Jack Haynes, Brett Hutton, Lyndon James, Freddie McCann, Matthew Montgomery, Fergus O’Neill, Ben Slater, Josh Tongue, Kyle Verreynne (wk)
Sussex have a tendency to play Robinson in alternate games so he may miss out this week, with Ari Karvelas potentially getting his first start. Henry Crocombe bowled one over in a practice match at the end of March and has not played since.
Sussex squad (from): John Simpson (c,wk), Tom Alsop, Jack Carson, Oli Carter, Tom Clark, James Coles, Henry Crocombe, Tom Haines, Finn Hudson-Prentice, Daniel Hughes, Aristides Karvelas, Danny Lamb, Ollie Robinson, Jayden Seales
Weather and Conditions
The current forecast is for cloudy conditions on day one with drizzle on day two. The sun should appear and temperatures improve for the second half of the match.
Traditionally swing bowlers get some assistance at Trent Bridge, but the first two matches played by Notts at home had plenty of runs.
Date: 25th April 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
