Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

structure of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It represents the historic county of

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. 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 The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. 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 Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

and

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Sussex won its first official

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 Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

to clinch the

C&G Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

, before winning the

following an emphatic victory against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

at Trent Bridge, in which Sussex defeated their hosts by an innings and 245 runs. 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, Sussex defeated

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

early in the day and then had to wait until past five o'clock as title rivals Lancashire narrowly failed to beat

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

– prompting relieved celebrations at the County Cricket Ground, Hove. Sussex enjoyed further limited overs success with consecutive Pro40 wins in 2008 and 2009 as well as beating

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

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).

Honours

First XI honours

* County Championship (3) – 2003, 2006, 2007 :''Division Two'' (3) – 2001, 2010, 2024 * Friends Provident Trophy (5) – 1963, 1964, 1978, 1986, 2006 * Pro40 National League (3) – 1982, 2008, 2009 :''Division Two'' (2) – 1999, 2005 * Twenty20 Cup (1) – 2009

Second XI honours

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

Notes

Earliest cricket

Sussex, along with

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, 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. 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 The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. 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 Sir William Gage (1695 – 23 April 1744) of Firle Place was a British landowner and politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons from 1722 to 1744. He was an early patron of cricket, in association with his friend Char ...

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

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 of Sussex County Cricket Club on 1 March 1839, England's oldest county club. The side played its initial first-class match against MCC at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in June 1839.

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.

Sussex grounds

In total, Sussex CCC have played at 17 grounds, four of which have been in

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...

. The first County match was played at Eaton Road on 6 June 1872 against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. 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

. Other grounds for first class matches have included Sheffield Park,

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

, Worthing,

and

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

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.

Coaching staff

* Head coach/Director of Cricket: Paul Farbrace * Batting coach: Grant Flower * Bowling coach: James Kirtley

Notable Sussex players

This list includes those Sussex players who have played in

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

since 1877,

One Day International cricket One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty over (cricket), overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The Cricket World Cup, World C ...

since 1971, or have made an outstanding contribution (e.g.: scoring most runs or taking most wickets in a season). Afghanistan * Rashid Khan Australia * Jason Behrendorff * Michael Bevan * Alex Carey * Michael Di Venuto * Tony Dodemaide * Ryan Harris *

Travis Head Travis Michael Head (born 29 December 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who represents the Australia national cricket team in all formats and is the current Test Captain (cricket), vice-captain. A left-handed batter and part-tim ...

* Steve Magoffin * Josh Philippe * Steve Smith * Jason Voros Bangladesh * Mustafizur Rahman Bermuda * Delray Rawlins England * Chris Adams * Tim Ambrose * Jofra Archer * Ravi Bopara * Ted Bowley * Danny Briggs * Jem Broadbridge * Harry Butt * Henry Charlwood * George Cox senior * Mason Crane * Jemmy Dean * Ted Dexter * Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji * Steven Finn * C. B. Fry * George Garton * Ed Giddins * Tony Greig * Chris Jordan * James Kirtley * James Langridge * John Langridge * Jason Lewry * William Lillywhite * Robin Martin-Jenkins * Stuart Meaker * Tymal Mills * Richard Montgomerie * Peter Moores * Alan Oakman * Monty Panesar * Paul Parker * Jim Parks, Jr. * Jim Parks, Sr. * Tony Pigott * Matt Prior * K S Ranjitsinhji * Rajesh Rao * Dermot Reeve * Albert Relf * Ollie Robinson (cricketer, born 1993), Ollie Robinson * Ian Salisbury * Phil Salt * Ajmal Shahzad * David Sheppard * John Simpson (English cricketer), John Simpson * John Snow (cricketer), John Snow * Martin Speight * Ken Suttle * Maurice Tate * Ian Thomson (cricketer), Ian Thomson * Joe Vine * Alan Wells * Colin Wells (cricketer), Colin Wells * John Wisden * Luke Wright (cricketer), Luke Wright * Michael Yardy England / Sri Lanka * Gehan Mendis Greece * Aristides Karvelas India * Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi * Piyush Chawla * Cheteshwar Pujara * Ishant Sharma * Jaydev Unadkat Ireland * George Dockrell * Ed Joyce Italy * Grant Stewart (cricketer), Grant Stewart Namibia * David Wiese Netherlands * Zach Lion-Cachet * Michael Rippon * Bas Zuiderent New Zealand * Tom Bruce (cricketer), Tom Bruce * Brendon McCullum * Tim Seifert * Henry Shipley * Scott Styris * Ross Taylor * Lou Vincent Pakistan * Mushtaq Ahmed (cricketer), Mushtaq Ahmed * Mohammad Akram (cricketer, born 1974), Mohammad Akram * Yasir Arafat (cricketer, born 1982), Yasir Arafat * Naved Arif * Faheem Ashraf * Umar Gul * Mir Hamza * Imran Khan * Javed Miandad * Saqlain Mushtaq * Rana Naved-ul-Hasan * Mohammad Rizwan (cricketer), Mohammad Rizwan * Mohammed Sami * Ashar Zaidi Scotland * Brad Currie * Matt Machan * Calum MacLeod (cricketer), Calum MacLeod * Charlie Tear * Stu Whittingham, Stuart Whittingham South Africa * Peter Kirsten * Garth Le Roux * Wayne Parnell * Vernon Philander * Johannes van der Wath * Kirk Wernars * Kepler Wessels * Stiaan van Zyl Sri Lanka * Mahela Jayawardene * Nuwan Kulasekara West Indies * Corey Collymore * Vasbert Drakes * Obed McCoy * Dwayne Smith * Franklyn Stephenson * Jerome Taylor Zimbabwe * Murray Goodwin

Records

Most first-class runs for Sussex
Qualification – 20,000 runs Most first-class wickets for Sussex
Qualification – 1,000 wickets

Team

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

Batting

* Highest score – 344* Murray Goodwin v. Somerset, Taunton, 2009 * Most runs in season – 2,850 J. G. Langridge, 1949

Highest partnership for each wicket

* 1st – 490 Ted Bowley and John Langridge v. Middlesex, Hove, 1933 * 2nd – 385 Ted Bowley and Maurice Tate v. Northamptonshire, Hove, 1921 * 3rd – 385* Michael Yardy and Murray Goodwin v. Warwickshire, Hove, 2006 * 4th – 363 Murray Goodwin and Carl Hopkinson v. Somerset, Taunton, 2009 * 5th – 297 Jim Parks senior, Jim Parks and Harry Parks (cricketer), Harry Parks v. Hampshire, Portsmouth, 1937 * 6th – 335 Luke Wright and Ben Brown (cricketer), Ben Brown v. Durham, Hove, 2014 * 7th – 344 Ranjitsinhji and Billy Newham v. Essex, Leyton, 1902 * 8th – 291 Robin Martin-Jenkins and Mark Davis (cricketer, born 1971), Mark Davis v. Somerset, Taunton, 2002 * 9th – 178 Harry Parks and Albert Wensley v. Derbyshire, Horsham, 1930 * 10th – 164 Ollie Robinson (Sussex cricketer), Ollie Robinson and Matt Hobden v. Durham, Chester-le-Street, 2015 Source:

Bowling

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

Explanatory notes

Citations

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Sussex County Cricket Club, 1839 establishments in England Cricket in East Sussex Cricket in West Sussex English first-class cricket teams History of Sussex Sport in Brighton and Hove Cricket clubs established in 1839 First-class cricket teams