Bertie Foreman column: It's a huge honour for me to be a professional cricketer at Sussex

Now, the County Championship returns to Hove, with Paul Farbrace’s side is set to host title-chasing Warwickshire at The 1st Central County Ground, starting this Sunday. Before that, the ground will today host England U19s v India U19s, and welcome 2,500 students and teachers from local Primary and Secondary schools. One of them may be the next Jofra or Bertie Foreman.

In this week’s Sussex player column, we hear from local Sussex player, Bertie Foreman. The right-handed off spin bowler, and left-handed batsman, talks about his memories of growing up with dreams of following in the footsteps of his cricket heroes, and what it will mean to the young players to be playing for their country today.

I think it is fantastic that England U19s are coming to play at Hove today (Friday 27th June), especially in such a big game as playing against India. The initiative from the club to make it a Schools’ day, bringing a few thousand kids into the ground to watch and enjoy the cricket, will create a fantastic atmosphere and, hopefully, inspire many kids to pick up the game and encourage them to get involved in playing, which would be fantastic for the community.

That’s how my brothers and I got into playing cricket, and this will hopefully be the same for this generation of kids coming through. It will be very special for this U19s team to play at 1st class grounds for their country. It’s a huge honour, and one that I cherished and enjoyed very much during my time with that age group. I think this current U19s team is a very talented group, with many players to watch out for. If I had to pick a few to keep a special eye on, it would have to be Thomas Rew of Somerset. He seems to be a very good player already, even at such a young age, having played in the Vitality Blast for Somerset. He’s obviously highly rated in the system, and I look forward to seeing how he goes against a strong opposition, such as India. I think Rocky Flintoff is also a player to watch; he’s had some professional experience for Lancashire and the England Lions, and I would expect good things from him.

I grew up just off Dyke Road in Hove, and used to go down to Hove to watch Sussex play, with my dad and brothers who were, and still are, a massive influence on my career . We used to play soft ball games on the concrete outside the indoor school, and I always used to try and bat like the Sussex players of the time, such as Matt Prior and Murray Goodwin.

It doesn’t feel like so long ago that I was playing those soft ball games at the ground, and hoping one day to be out in the middle playing for the first team. Now, as a professional cricketer at Sussex, it’s a huge honour for me and something that I am incredibly proud of. It’s such a special place for me, and will always be where I learnt to play and love the game, from a really young age. Brighton and Hove itself is such an inclusive place, and I couldn’t think of anywhere better for young, aspiring cricketers to learn the game, and hone their craft, to try and one day be out in the middle representing Sussex in the first team.

Free entry to all spectators for the opening day of this four-day clash—so why not head down, soak up the sunshine, and cheer on the team this weekend?