Re: Winter 2015 | Page 107

Sussex Cricket Club A season of frustration would best sum up the 2014/15 season. Relegation to Division 2 brought about a cruel end to the Shark‘s five year stay in the top flight and there were no trophies to shout about to add to the Sussex Cabinet despite my prediction that there would be one. Sorry about that! So let’s look forward to next season. Luke Wright has been appointed Captain in all formats after Ed Joyce’s decision to hand over the reins after a three year stay at the helm. 30 year-old Wright, who joined in 2004 from Leicestershire, enjoyed an excellent season with the bat in 2015; scoring 1,210 County Championship runs and making his career-best 226 not out against Worcestershire. His form earned him the Sussex Player of the Year Award and Wright, who has played over 100 times for England in one-day cricket, averaged 51 and 45 in the NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup respectively for the Sharks this year. Sussex also announced that Chris Liddle, Ashar Zaidi and Steffan Piolet have all left the club, following the conclusion of the 2015 season. Left-arm seamer Liddle, who has been with the club since 2006, was predominantly utilised by Sussex in whiteball cricket and was the leading wickettaker in three T20 seasons for the Sharks, with a best of 5 for 17 against Middlesex at Lord’s in 2012. Joining the Sharks for next season is left-arm spinner Danny Briggs, who joined from south-coast neighbours Hampshire. Briggs has taken 191 first-class wickets in his 67 matches, with a best of 6 for 45 which he took for the England Lions in 2011. He has international honours having made his England ODI debut against Pakistan in Dubai in 2012, and has also played seven times for his country in the T20 format. Sussex Captain Luke Wright said, “Danny is a fantastic signing and one I am really excited about….he is a hard worker and a tough competitor and I look forward to playing with him rather than against him.” There was also the announcement that Ollie Robinson has signed a new threeyear contract. 21 year-old all-rounder Robinson, who was named Sussex’s Young Player of the Year for the 2015 season, will remain at Hove until at the least the end of the 2018 season following a magical breakthrough year. He burst onto the scene back in April to score a century on his first-class debut and his first outing for Sussex. His tenthwicket stand of 164 with Matt Hobden against Durham broke a 107 year-old Sussex record, set by George Cox Snr and Harry Butt against Cambridge University in 1908. And the seamer went on to take 46 wickets in his debut season, with a superb best of 6 for 33 coming in the win against Warwickshire at Hove. 105