Sussex fans have July 4 circled
in their diaries, when their
fearsome T20 attack blasts off.Still excited by the unexpected
arrival of Jason Gillespie as coach
on a three-year deal, the euphoria
has not yet worn off. It has been
a mixed start to the season, with
reasonable County Championship
form and a Royal London One-Day
Cup campaign that fizzled out, the
weather perhaps playing a part.
But it could be the Vitality Blast
that sees Sussex play their best
cricket, possibly then refuelling
them for a final promotion push in
the Championship.
Sussex showed their fighting
qualities with three hard-foughtdraws in four-day cricket, then
defeated Middlesex, before being
caught in the Matt Henry hurricane
at Canterbury. They are in touching
distance of the top, in third.
Thanks to the higgledy-piggledy
calendar, they have a match against
Durham (June 20–23) and an orphan
fixture against Gloucestershire
(July 16–19) – fans will be hoping
the sublime settings of Arundel and
Cheltenham will inspire. Then there
is another one-off (Glamorgan at
Hove on July 22), before the run-in
begins, six games to see if they can
return to Division One after a three-
year absence, starting on August 19.
The feeling in the camp is that
Sussex are well placed, with Jofra
Archer and Chris Jordan now back
from the Indian Premier League.
Captain Ben Brown has been
excellent. After five Championship
matches he had scored 349 runs
at an average of 49. A Sussex lad
through and through, the Crawley-
born 29-year-old has been with
the county since he was 11, and
is enjoying the responsibility
of leading from behind the stumps.
Michael Burgess has also
been a revelation. Released byLeicestershire at the end of 2017, he
seized the chance of a trial at Hove
in 2017, and is now contracted to
the end of 2019. He scored 308 at 44
in those same handful of matches,
making up for slightly below-par
starts for the Lukes, Wells and
Wright, who were averaging in
the mid-20s. Stiaan van Zyl’s knee
injury is a worry, however, with no
timeframe yet given on his return.
The South African Kolpak, David
Wiese, has batted and bowled well,
alongside Ollie Robinson, who
has made dramatic developmental
strides under Gillespie already,
while India’s Ishant Sharma bowled
steadily and offered tremendous
influence in the dressing room to his
younger team-mates.
The One-Day Cup campaign
started with real promise. Sussex
hammered Kent, assumed control
against Hampshire only for Gareth
Berg (65 from 27 balls) to play an
extraordinary innings, and then won
a notable victory at Taunton (Wright
making a ton and Burgess and
Wiese half-centuries). In-form Paul
Stirling masterminded victory with
a century for Middlesex at Hove, but
Gillespie’s side were still confident,The Gillespie factor has not transformed results at
Sussex yet, but there is an fresh optimism at Hove and
The county set the Blast could see take-off, reports Huw Turbervill
Getty imaGesT20 could be this year’s key suit.
Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Tymal
Mills and George Garton under Jason
Gillespie’s tutelage... a swim in the
sea might be needed to soothe
the bruises after facing that lot
72 | thecricketer.com