When they came up with the calendar for this year’s Blast, the fixture secretaries must have had a few bottles of claret on the go, as Glamorgan have four matches in a row against either Sussex or Essex. These games are Friday night then Sunday, followed by Thursday night then Saturday, so why not have the two home games side by side and stay over for the away ones? No, Glamorgan have to travel up and down the M4 as they are home to one and away to the other on both occasions. So much for reducing travel!
Both these sides have a won two lost one record, the Sharks having gone down to Somerset in their last game, while Glamorgan lost to Surrey in a game in which they were well placed, before their batting fell away.
Glamorgan did the double over Sussex in last year’s competition, posting 235/6 when they met at Hove, Kiran Carlson making 87 from 47 balls. The Glamorgan skipper has already scored 140 runs in this year’s competition, with a match winning 93 from 57 balls in the win over Essex Eagles. Glamorgan’s youngsters have also stepped up with the bat, led by Carlson’s opening partner, Will Smale.
The bowling has been led by two players who did not featrue in the first block of Championship fixtures, Dan Douthwaite with eight wickets and an economy of 6.25, and Mason Crane with six wickets and an economy of 8.00. They have been well supported by Timm van der Gugten and Ben Kellaway, although their overseas quick, Hayden Kerr missed the last game because of a quad injury.
The Sharks are led again by their experienced quick Tymal Mills who, alongside Ollie Robinson and Nathan McAndrew, forms a formidable pace threat. Mills leads the wicket-taking with six, but he will want to improve on an economy rate of 9.61, accepting he does bowl the tough overs. The spin options come from the impressive Jack Carson and James Coles.
Coles also leads the runs scoring with 121 at a strike rate of 161.33, while Tom Alsop, John Simpson and Daniel Hughes each have 80 or more so far.
While Sussex might have the edge in the bowling department, these look like two well matched sides, and with them meeting twice inside a week, each will be hoping to get the upper hand and build on their promising start to the competition.
Key players
James Coles is still only 21, but is a key part of this Sussex side with both bat and ball. He leads the run scoring at present with knocks of 77 not out and 43 in their wins against Middlesex and Gloucestershire. This will be a boost given his relatively slow start to the season with the bat in red ball cricket, as he will be keen to keep forcing his name into England’s thoughts.
Glamorgan’s Colin Ingram has had disappointing start to the campaign, with a top score of just 10 from his three innings so far. He has been in fine form in the Championship, but was rested for the last two games with Marnus Labuschagne coming in. Whether this has had an impact on his run scoring waits to be seen, but the expectation is that a big score is not far away from this experienced player.
Team news:
Sussex named a 16-player squad for their last match against Somerset and the likelihood is that this will be unchanged.
Sussex squad (probable): Tymal Mills (c), Tom Alsop, Jack Carson, Tom Clark, James Coles, Henry Crocombe, Brad Currie, Bertie Foreman, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Daniel Hughes, Danny Lamb, Nathan McAndrew, OllieRobinson, John Simpson (wk), George Thomas, Harrison Ward
The one question mark over the Glamorgan squad is the fitness of Hayden Kerr.
Glamorgan squad (from): Kiran Carlson (c), Tom Bevan, Chris Cooke (wk), Mason Crane, Dan Douthwaite, Andy Gorvin, Colin Ingram, Ben Kellaway, Hayden Kerr, Ned Leonard, Jamie McIlroy, Will Smale, Asa Tribe, Timm van der Gugten
Weather and Conditions
After a very unsettled Saturday, the forecast for Sunday is fine.
Hove usually provides plenty of runs, but the moisture that has been around in the last few days may give some assistance to the pace bowlers, where the Sharks look to have the edge.
Date: 8th June 2025
Time: 16:00
Ground: The 1st Central County Ground, Hove
