Sussex_County_Cricket_Club

Sussex County Cricket Club

Sussex County Cricket Club

English cricket club

Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The club was founded in 1839 as a successor to the various Sussex county cricket teams, including the old Brighton Cricket Club, which had been representative of the county of Sussex as a whole since the 1720s. The club has always held first-class status. Sussex have competed in the County Championship since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.[1]

Quick Facts One Day name, Personnel ...

The club colours are traditionally blue and white and the shirt sponsors are Galloways Accounting for the LV County Championship and Dafabet for Royal London One-Day Cup matches and Vitality Blast T20 matches. Its home ground is the County Cricket Ground, Hove. Sussex also play matches around the county at Arundel, Eastbourne and Horsham.

Sussex won its first official County Championship title in 2003 and subsequently became the dominant team of the decade, repeating the success in 2006 and 2007. In 2006 Sussex achieved ‘the double’, beating Lancashire to clinch the C&G Trophy, before winning the County Championship following an emphatic victory against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, in which Sussex defeated their hosts by an innings and 245 runs.[2] Sussex then won the title for the third time in five years in 2007, when in a nail-biting finale on the last day of the season,[3] Sussex defeated Worcestershire early in the day and then had to wait until past five o'clock as title rivals Lancashire narrowly failed to beat Surrey – prompting relieved celebrations at the County Cricket Ground, Hove.[4] Sussex enjoyed further limited overs success with consecutive Pro40 wins in 2008 and 2009 as well as beating Somerset at Edgbaston to lift the 2009 Twenty20 Cup. The south coast county ended the decade having won ten trophies in ten years.

On 1 November 2015, Sussex County Cricket Club (SCCC) merged with the Sussex Cricket Board (SCB) to form a single governing body for cricket in Sussex, called Sussex Cricket Limited (SCL).[5]

Honours

Sussex field against Derbyshire at Hove on 24 April 2005
See also: List of the competitive honours won by county cricket clubs in England and Wales

First XI honours

  • County Championship (3) – 2003, 2006, 2007 [6][7]
Division Two (2) – 2001, 2010 [6]
  • Friends Provident Trophy[nb 1] (5) – 1963, 1964, 1978, 1986, 2006 [7][8][9]
  • Pro40 National League[nb 2] (3) – 1982, 2008, 2009 [7]
Division Two (2) – 1999, 2005

Second XI honours

  • Second XI Championship (3) – 1978, 1990, 2007
  • Second XI Trophy (1) – 2005

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    Formerly known as the Gillette Cup (1963–1980), NatWest Trophy (1981–2000) and C&G Trophy (2001–2006)
  2. [N 2]
    Formerly known as the Sunday League (1969–1998)

Earliest cricket

Further information: History of cricket to 1725
For information about Sussex county teams before the formation of Sussex CCC, see Sussex county cricket teams.
The Arthur Gilligan stand at Hove

Sussex, along with Kent, is believed to be the birthplace of cricket. It is believed that cricket was invented by children living on the Weald in Anglo-Saxon or Norman times.[11]

The first definite mention of cricket in Sussex relates to ecclesiastical court records in 1611 which state that two parishioners of Sidlesham in West Sussex failed to attend church on Easter Sunday because they were playing cricket. They were fined 12d each and made to do penance.

Cricket became established in Sussex during the 17th century and the earliest village matches took place before the English Civil War. It is believed that the earliest county teams were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration in 1660. In 1697, the earliest "great match" recorded was for 50 guineas apiece between two elevens at a venue in Sussex.

Matches involving the two great Sussex patrons Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet were first recorded in 1725. The earliest known use of Sussex in a match title occurred in 1729. From 1741, Richmond patronised the famous Slindon Cricket Club, whose team was representative of the county.

After the death of Richmond in 1751, Sussex cricket declined until the emergence of the Brighton club at its Prince of Wales Ground in 1790. This club sustained cricket in Sussex through the Napoleonic Wars and, as a result, the county team was very strong in the 1820s when it included the great bowlers Jem Broadbridge and William Lillywhite.

Origin of club

The Pavilion at Hove

On 17 June 1836, the Sussex Cricket Fund was set up to support county matches, after a meeting in Brighton. This led directly to the formation on 1 March 1839 of Sussex County Cricket Club, England's oldest county club. Sussex CCC played its initial first-class match versus Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's on 10 & 11 June 1839.[11]

Sussex crest

The Sussex crest depicts a mythological, footless bird called the Martlet, and is similar to Coat of arms of Sussex. Capped players have six martlets on their sweaters, and the crest with gold trimming on their caps; uncapped players instead have only the club crest on their left breast, and white trimming on their caps.[7]

Sussex grounds

See also: List of Sussex County Cricket Club grounds
Exit of the County Ground at Hove

In total, Sussex CCC have played at 17 grounds, four of which have been in Brighton and Hove. The first County match was played at Eaton Road on 6 June 1872 against Gloucestershire.[7] Currently, the main venue for the club's First and Second XI is The County Ground in Hove, although matches are also played regularly at the grounds at Arundel and Horsham. Other grounds for first class matches have included Sheffield Park, Chichester, Worthing, Eastbourne and Hastings.[7]

Current squad

  • No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
  • ‡ denotes players with international caps.
  •  *  denotes a player who has been awarded a county cap.
More information No., Name ...

Coaching staff

Notable Sussex players

Further information: List of Sussex CCC players

This list includes those Sussex players who have played in Test cricket since 1877, One Day International cricket since 1971, or have made an outstanding contribution (e.g.: scoring most runs or taking most wickets in a season).

Afghanistan Afghanistan

Australia Australia

Bangladesh Bangladesh

Bermuda Bermuda

England England

England England / Sri Lanka Sri Lanka

Greece Greece

India India

Ireland Ireland

Italy Italy

Namibia Namibia

Netherlands Netherlands

New Zealand New Zealand

Pakistan Pakistan

Scotland Scotland

South Africa South Africa

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka

West Indies Cricket West Indies

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe

Records

More information Player, Runs ...

Team

  • Highest total for – 742/5d v. Somerset, Taunton, 2009 [16][17]
  • Highest total against – 737 by Glamorgan, Hove 2023 [18]
  • Lowest total for – 19 v. Surrey, Godalming, 1830, v. Nottinghamshire, Hove, 1873 [19]
  • Lowest total against – 18 by Kent, Gravesend, 1867[20]

Batting

Highest partnership for each wicket

Source:[24]

Bowling

  • Best bowling – 10–48 C. H. G Bland v. Kent, Tonbridge, 1899[25]
  • Best match bowling – 17–106 G. R. Cox v. Warwickshire, Horsham, 1926[26]
  • Wickets in season – 198 M. W. Tate, 1925[27]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. Mendis was eligible to play for either England or Sri Lanka, but did not represent either of them in international cricket.
  2. Joyce has previously played International Cricket for England.
  3. Wiese has previously played International Cricket for South Africa.

Citations

  1. [1]
    ACS (1982). A Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS.
  2. [2]
    "Cricket - Counties - Mushtaq seals Sussex title glory". BBC Sport.
  3. [3]
    "Lancashire go down fighting as Sussex secure title". Cricinfo.
  4. [4]
    "'The best County Championship season ever'". Cricinfo.
  5. [5]
    "New integrated body to run Sussex Cricket". Eastbourne Herald. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  6. [6]
    "County Champions 1890-2013 / County Championship". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  7. [7]
    "CLUB HISTORY: THE OLDEST CLUB IN THE UK". Sussex CCC. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  8. [8]
    "Knockout cups Winners". Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  9. [9]
    "Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, Final: Sussex v Lancashire at Lord's, Aug 26, 2006". Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. [10]
    "Six appeal / Twenty20 Cup". Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  11. [11]
    "Sussex County Cricket Club". talkCricket. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  12. [12]
    "PLAYER PROFILES". Sussex CCC. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  13. [13]
    , BBC Sport, 2 December 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  14. [14]
    "Most Runs for Sussex". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  15. [15]
    "Most Wickets for Sussex". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  16. [16]
    "Goodwin breaks records at Taunton". BBC Sport. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  17. [17]
    "HIGHEST TEAM TOTALS FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  18. [18]
    "HIGHEST TEAM TOTALS AGAINST SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  19. [19]
    "LOWEST TEAM TOTALS FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  20. [20]
    "LOWEST TEAM TOTALS AGAINST SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  21. [21]
    "MOST RUNS IN AN INNINGS FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  22. [22]
    "MOST RUNS IN A SEASON FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  23. [23]
    "Durham v Sussex at Chester-le-Street, Apr 26-29, 2015 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  24. [24]
    "HIGHEST PARTNERSHIP FOR EACH WICKET FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  25. [25]
    "MOST WICKETS IN AN INNINGS FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  26. [26]
    "MOST WICKETS IN A MATCH FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  27. [27]
    "MOST WICKETS IN A SEASON FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

Further reading

  • Timothy J McCann, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004
  • Playfair Cricket Annual: various issues
  • Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (annual): various issues
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