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Post by longstop on May 9, 2018 9:04:02 GMT
Barely has the dust settled on a memorable victory over Middlesex on Bank Holiday Monday as we look forward to the fifth of five 4-day County Championship fixtures before the white kit is put into storage for a few weeks.
Our fifth opponents of the season are Kent who have had a strange start to the season. They’ve recorded two victories and one horrible defeat and lie third behind Sussex in the County Championship. The fact that they haven’t earnt a batting point yet is enough to tell you that Kent have been in three low scoring games.
In contrast to Kent’s low scores this season, the last 5 games against Kent have seen Kent score 350+ in at least one innings in every game. Indeed, in those last 5 games, Sussex have a poor record with three defeats and two poor draws. Last season we played Kent twice before the end of May and were well beaten on each occasion despite Jofra Archer taking 7 for 67 in the first of those games.
Given the low scores in Kent’s game this season, it is no surprise that no one has scored a century yet, although in the bowling department Matt Henry has taken an impressive 27 wickets at an average of 8.63 and Darren Stevens has 18 wickets at 12.50.
It’s just under 10 years since Sussex played a County Championship at Canterbury as the last two away fixtures have been at Tunbridge Wells. A win would put Sussex in a strong position in Division Two whereas a defeat would let Kent, who have a game in hand, get above Sussex. It should be an interesting game. Another win? We will see.
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Post by joe on May 9, 2018 9:41:47 GMT
I would guess the team will be largely unchanged apart from Sharma coming in for Garton if he’s fit.
Non of the also-rans have put their hands up for selection in the recent 2nd XI game.
There may be a case to drop Wright, who is dreadfully out of form, and go with 5 bowlers but I don’t think this will happen.
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Post by grandavefan on May 9, 2018 10:12:09 GMT
Luke Wright will not be dropped.
At Leicester he got 80+ enough to keep him in.
He is also the senior, revered, pro. Wise, helpful and a good team player.
These are essential in a team growing.
Garton, back to learning I'm afraid. Potential, yes plenty, but getting it out is the task JG has.
With you Joe, 1 change, Sharma in.
Whittingham has not done enough in 2nd's games to warrant a squad place.
Competition is hot at the moment with the seamers and will only get hotter in a few weeks.
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Post by joe on May 9, 2018 10:30:30 GMT
I agree Wright is a big presence on the field but his attacking style is more suited to white ball cricket, I never feel confident that he’s going to dig in when the game situation demands it. His expansive shot selection isn’t always what’s required in a 4 day game. Perhaps move him down the order and use him more as a pinch hitter?
Either way, no one is too big to be dropped, selection should be on performance surely?
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Post by Wicked Cricket on May 9, 2018 13:17:51 GMT
I reckon Wright will become a T20 white-ball specialist for Sussex, perhaps, as early as next season. Luke has lost his way and during
his senior playing years, does he have the ambition or even desire to relearn how to become a solid red ball player?
I very much hope I am proven wrong.
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Post by gmdf on May 10, 2018 12:04:53 GMT
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Post by joe on May 10, 2018 13:44:19 GMT
Sussex have named a 13 man squad with Sharma and Sakande added to the 11 who played Middlesex.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on May 11, 2018 13:12:43 GMT
Here are some of the morning's play moments including the wicket of Bell-Drummond taken by Ollie Robinson courtesy of the Kent CCC camera. It continues to baffle me the number of wickets gained by seamers when a batsman purposefully does not play the ball. www.kentcricket.co.uk/fixture/kent-v-sussex/ |
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Post by Wicked Cricket on May 11, 2018 17:02:35 GMT
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Post by joe on May 11, 2018 18:42:16 GMT
Matt Henry the difference between the 2 sides. Easy to see why he’s the top wicket taker in the Championship with 30 scalps already. We bowled too short in the first session before lunch, especially Sharma, but came back after lunch with a good spell from Wiese.
Phil Salt needs a big score second dig otherwise we may as well play an extra bowler as it wouldn’t really weaken the batting. Happy to give the younger players a fair crack of the whip but young Salt is being flogged!
Looks as if there may be a bit of rain around tomorrow pm.
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Post by philh on May 12, 2018 15:32:14 GMT
Kuhn with the bat and Henry with the ball seem to be the two players that are most likely to take this game away from us. Let's hope the total we face is not too big and that the top four can get some decent scores second time around. If this lead stretches to 300, I think we will seriously struggle. We need a run of wickets and the departure of Kuhn, who looked set to get a 100 in the first innings.
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Post by philh on May 12, 2018 15:34:30 GMT
Kuhn with the bat and Henry with the ball seem to be the two players that are most likely to take this game away from us. Let's hope the total we face is not too big and that the top four can get some decent scores second time around. If this lead stretches to 300, I think we will seriously struggle. We need a run of wickets and the departure of Kuhn, who looked set to get a 100 in the first innings. Kuhn must have departed just as I clicked the 'Post' button!! Maybe, I should try that again. |
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Post by coverpoint on May 12, 2018 16:19:16 GMT
Kuhn with the bat and Henry with the ball seem to be the two players that are most likely to take this game away from us. Let's hope the total we face is not too big and that the top four can get some decent scores second time around. If this lead stretches to 300, I think we will seriously struggle. We need a run of wickets and the departure of Kuhn, who looked set to get a 100 in the first innings. 300? We won't make 250! |
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Post by jonboy on May 12, 2018 20:55:02 GMT
A disappointing day at the office once again Let’s hope we’re made of sterner stuff tomorrow
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Post by joe on May 13, 2018 8:32:27 GMT
We need early wickets this morning, anything over a 200 run chase will be a tough ask.
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