Match Preview: Hampshire Men v Sussex, Rothesay County Championship

Hampshire Men v Sussex

Rothesay County Championship

Friday 23rd-Monday 26th May (11am start)

Utilita Bowl

Hampshire Men face Sussex in the final round of Rothesay County Championship fixtures before the Vitality Blast starts next week.

The two local rivals haven’t played each other in the competition since 2015 where Jimmy Adams’ Hampshire team defeated Ed Joyce’s Martlets by six wickets at Hove.

The Rose and Crown enjoyed an emphatic bounce-back victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston as the Bears were defeated by 89 runs thanks to five wicket hauls from Kyle Abbott and James Fuller.

The former’s fifty in the first innings helped Hampshire to two batting points whilst Fletcha Middleton’s 76 in the second innings provided the backbone in a lead of over 300.

Sussex will be wanting to get back to winning ways after a five-wicket defeat to Somerset at Taunton.

The south coast side have won two, drawn two, and lost two from their opening six matches so far.

Hampshire Squad

Hampshire have named a 13-player squad for their County Championship match against Sussex.

Spin bowling all-rounder Felix Organ comes back into the side in place of Ali Orr as the only change from the squad that defeated Warwickshire at Edgbaston in the previous fixture.

Full Hampshire squad

Sussex

Captain: John Simpson

Overseas Players: Daniel Hughes (Australia), Nathan McAndrew (Australia)

2024 Leading Run Scorer: John Simpson (1197)

2024 Leading Wicket Taker: Jack Carson (50)

Champions of Division Two last summer, they’ve had a modest start to life in Division One as they currently sit sixth in the table.

They completed a mammoth 260-run win over Somerset in their second match but were handed a nine-wicket defeat by table-toppers Nottinghamshire two weeks later.

Somerset got their own back with a five-wicket win in their previous fixture, but the Martlets have also defeated Worcestershire by 47 runs and completed draws against Surrey and Warwickshire.

Opener Tom Haines is their leading run scorer, and fourth highest in the country, with two big hundreds to his name, whilst former Middlesex man John Simpson is averaging 71 for the season to date.

Bowling-wise, Ollie Robinson is their leading wicket taker with 18 as he aims to stake a claim for the Test squad this summer, whilst West Indies’ quick Jayden Seales has continued his stellar stats on the south coast with 15 wickets.

Ireland-born Jack Carson was their leading wicket taker last summer and has taken eight wickets with his off spin as he could be an outside chance for an international call up for the winter.

Head-to-Head

Hampshire Men’s record in County Championship matches v Sussex

Last five meetings:

• August 1-4 2020 | 1^st Central County Ground, Hove | Sussex won by 94 runs
• June 7-10 2015 | 1^st Central County Ground, Hove | Hampshire won by six wickets
• April 12-15 2015 | Utilita Bowl | Sussex won by 92 runs
• July 11-14 2011 | 1^st Central County Ground, Hove | Sussex won by five wickets
• May 4-7 2011 | Utilita Bowl | Match drawn

Tickets

Tickets for Hampshire Men’s home County Championship match against Sussex are available via the link below, while they’ll also be available on the gate each day from 10:00am.

Gates open at 10:00am on each day.

Click here to buy tickets.

Coverage

A live stream will be available for the match and a link to this stream will be available in the at www.utilitabowl.com/cricket, along with a live match centre with the scorecard, statistics and insight available throughout the match.

Weather Forecast

Please follow the link to view the latest weather forecast for Utilita Bowl: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2634447.