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 team (pre-1839), 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.
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. 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 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. 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).
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, 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. 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
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 in June 1839.
Sussex crest The Sussex crest depicts a mythological, footless bird called the martlet, and is similar to the 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. The first County match was played at Eaton Road on 6 June 1872 against Gloucestershire. 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.
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. No. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Notes Batters20 Tom Haines* Left-handed Right-arm medium 27 Tom Clark* Left-handed Right-arm medium 30 James Coles* Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 34 Jack Leaning Right-handed Right-arm off break All-rounders40 Danial Ibrahim Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 50 Joey Evison Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 53 Tom Price Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Wicket-keepers11 Oli Carter Right-handed — 28 Charlie Tear Right-handed — Bowlers4 Danny Briggs Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox White ball contract7 Tymal Mills* Right-handed Left-arm fast T20 captainWhite ball contract16 Jack Carson* Right-handed Right-arm off break LA captain21 Sean Hunt Right-handed Left-arm fast-medium 22 Jofra Archer* Right-handed Right-arm fast England central contract25 Ollie Robinson* Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium FC captain83 Dom Goodman Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium — Keith Dudgeon Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Overseas player Source: Updated: 1 October 2026
Coaching staff Head coach/Director of Cricket: Paul Farbrace, BBC Sport, 2 December 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2023. Batting coach: Grant Flower Bowling coach: James Kirtley
Notable Sussex 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
Rashid Khan
Australia
Jason Behrendorff Michael Bevan Alex Carey Michael Di Venuto Tony Dodemaide Ryan Harris Travis Head 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 Ian Salisbury Phil Salt Ajmal Shahzad David Sheppard John Simpson John Snow Martin Speight Ken Suttle Maurice Tate Ian Thomson Joe Vine Alan Wells Colin Wells John Wisden 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
Namibia
David Wiese
Netherlands
Zach Lion-Cachet Michael Rippon Bas Zuiderent
New Zealand
Tom Bruce Brendon McCullum Tim Seifert Henry Shipley Scott Styris Ross Taylor Lou Vincent
Pakistan
Mushtaq Ahmed Mohammad Akram Yasir Arafat Naved Arif Faheem Ashraf Umar Gul Mir Hamza Imran Khan Javed Miandad Saqlain Mushtaq Rana Naved-ul-Hasan Mohammad Rizwan Mohammed Sami Ashar Zaidi
Scotland
Brad Currie Matt Machan Calum MacLeod Charlie Tear 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 PlayerRunsJohn Langridge 34,150Ken Suttle 29,375Jim Parks junior 29,138James Langridge 28,894Ted Bowley 25,439Joseph Vine 24,120George Cox junior 22,687Henry Parks 21,692Charles Fry 20,626Thomas Cook 20,176Alan Oakman 20,117 Source:
Most first-class wickets for Sussex Qualification – 1,000 wickets PlayerWicketsMaurice Tate 2,211George Cox senior 1,810Albert Relf 1,594Ian Thomson 1,527James Langridge 1,416Fred Tate 1,306Albert Wensley 1,067Jim Cornford 1,019 Source:
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 and Harry Parks v. Hampshire, Portsmouth, 1937 6th – 335 Luke Wright and Ben Brown v. Durham, Hove, 2014 7th – 344 Ranjitsinhji and Billy Newham v. Essex, Leyton, 1902 8th – 291 Robin Martin-Jenkins and Mark Davis v. Somerset, Taunton, 2002 9th – 178 Harry Parks and Albert Wensley v. Derbyshire, Horsham, 1930 10th – 164 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
Mascots The main mascot of Sussex County Cricket Club is "Sid the Shark", an anthropomorphised animal that makes reference to the "Sussex Sharks" name. A female version, Sandy the Shark, has also appeared as a mascot.
See also Cricket in Sussex Sport in Sussex
Explanatory notes
Citations
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
External links Official site