It’s an intriguing contest lined up at Hove this week with Sussex, lying joint top in Division One, taking on the Champions for the last three years, Surrey. Having had a comfortable draw in the first round against Warwickshire, Sussex enjoyed a dominant win against fancied Somerset, while Surrey have had to scrap against Essex and Hampshire for their two draws. The fact that draws earn eight points means they are still in touch, but they will want to start winning games before too long.
Sussex’s win was achieved without the services of Ollie Robinson, missing because of a “minor foot injury”. 23-year-old Sean Hunt filled the gap admirably, taking nine wickets in the game to outshine his more illustrious new ball partner, Jayden Seales. With Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Danny Lamb, Henry Crocombe and Aristides Karvelas to back them up, Sussex have plenty of seam options. They also have the highly rated off-spinner Jack Carson, who took five wickets in the game at Edgbaston.
The batting has been performing well with Daniel Hughes and the three Tom’s: Haines, Clark and Alsop, followed by the ever reliable John Simpson. Simpson and Clark sit in the top five run scorers so far this season, Simpson having already notched up two centuries.
The Surrey batters have not been quite so consistent, with Dom Sibley digging them out of trouble, scoring centuries in both innings against Hampshire. In any other era of Test cricket, Sibley would be a banker to start against Zimbabwe. With the stars in the Surrey batting line up, it should not be too long before they start posting big totals.
The Surrey bowling was reinforced by the return of Dan Worrall against Hampshire, having missed the first game. There is still no explanation for this absence and we wait to see if England might be controlling his workload. Gus Atkinson appeared in a intra squad warm up game this week and we wait to see when he will appear in the Championship side.
If there is one weakness in the Surrey squad it is in the spin department. Currently they are relying on Dan Lawrence, although Cam Steel is back playing in the intra squad game this week.
It seems strange to say, but despite all the talent in the Surrey line up, on current form Sussex probably start as favourites. However, one feels that a big performance from the reigning Champions is only around the corner.
Key Players
There have been numerous cries for Ollie Robinson to be back in consideration for a Test spot, although he may have blotted his copy book once too often. Either way, Sussex will be glad to have as much of his services as possible as they look not to just survive, but push for a top spot in Division One.
It takes bowlers to win matches and Dan Worrall has done it for Surrey numerous times over the last three seasons. It remains to be seen whether England will be depriving Surrey of his services this summer.
Team news
Sussex will be keen to have Robinson back if he has recovered from his foot problem. However they have plenty of other bowling options.
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, Sean Hunt, Aristides Karvelas, Danny Lamb, Ollie Robinson, Jayden Seales
Steel and Atkinson are back in action in a Surrey second team game and we wait to see if they will appear in the squad.
Surrey squad (probable): Rory Burns (c), Jordan Clark, Matt Fisher, Ben Foakes (wk), Dan Lawrence, Ryan Patel, Ollie Pope, Kemar Roach, Dom Sibley, Jamie Smith, James Taylor, Dan Worrall
Weather and Conditions
Despite the drop in temperatures this week,the forecast is for it to be dry the first three days, before drizzle comes in on Monday.
Sussex opted to bat first in the game at Hove last week and scored over 500 runs in their second innings, so runs should be there for batters who apply themselves.
Date: 18th April 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: 1st Central County Ground, Hove
