County Championship Preview: Sussex v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset travel to the County Ground, Hove to take on Sussex in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Thursday August 27th).
Tickets for this match are still available:
Somerset are currently second in the Division One table with 133 points from nine matches, whilst Sussex are fifth with 108 points from the same number of fixtures.
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 11:00am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 1:40pm to 3:40pm
Evening session: 4pm to 6pm
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date using the dedicated Match Centre on this website which will feature a live stream of the action courtesy of Sussex CCC.
In-play updates will also appear on our X feed (formerly Twitter).
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Club Captain: Ollie Robinson
Head coach: Paul Farbrace
2025 finish: 4th
2025 highest run-scorer: John Simpson (1,086 runs)
2025 highest wicket-taker: Ollie Robinson (39 wickets)
Key winter moves: Sussex added three red-ball players to their Rothesay County Championship squad and have given themselves more options in two key areas: the top order and the all-rounder slot. Jack Leaning is back working with Paul Farbrace, the coach who knows him best, while Tom Price is a genuine all-rounder who will relish the step up to Division One. Seamer Dom Goodman has followed Price from Gloucestershire and will offer good back-up to Ollie Robinson and the other quicks.
What can we expect?: Can the experienced Jack Leaning rediscoverer his best form after linking up with Farbrace again? Tom Price adds beef to an already strong lower-middle order and is a potential match-changer with bat and ball.
Final thought: Sussex started the season with a 12-point deduction for financial misdemeanours, but Farbrace thinks his squad is strong enough to be considered title challengers. If they can keep their key players fit and utilise the squad depth, Sussex can improve on last season’s fourth place.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset are without Tom Kohler-Cadmore (thumb), Alfie Ogborne (back), Thomas Rew (ankle) and Fin Hill (hamstring).
The starting XI will be selected from the following squad:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “It was a great performance against Essex. It was important that we started well on the return to red ball cricket, and we did exactly that. I thought we were excellent throughout the four days and to get the win was huge. That gives us confidence going down to Hove.
“Sussex are a good team and the last time we were at Hove it was a disappointing performance, so we need to make sure that we travel well and make sure that we try and build on momentum from the Essex result.
“There’s only so many things you can control in sport, so it’s important that we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves. What we need to do is keep playing really good cricket, and if we do that, it’ll be exciting to see where we are in a month’s time.”
CLASSIC MATCH
We go back to 1990 for the classic County Championship match between the two sides at Hove.
It was a game that Somerset won by 10 wickets, thanks largely to a career-best double century from Chris Tavare.
Tavare won the toss and invited the home side to bat first. It looked like an excellent decision when Sussex were bowled out for just 153 inside 56 overs with only two players making double figures. Roland Lefebvre was the pick of the Somerset attack, claiming three for 46.
In reply, Somerset declared on 525 for nine, Tavare top scoring with 219. There were also half centuires for Neil Mallender (87*), Richard Harden (59) and Graham Rose (54).
Sussex fared rather better in their second innings as a century from Tony Dodemaide (112) helped them to 382.
Somerset then made short work of the run chase finishing on 13 without loss to wrap up a comprehensive victory.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Sussex CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset’s next match is in the Rothesay County Championship Division One when we take on Glamorgan at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Day one of this four-day match is Wednesday September 2nd.
