‘I expect us to win more games’ Fabrace looking for strong Sussex showing in One-Day Cup

Sitting top of the County Championship Division Two and qualifying for the knockout stages of the T20 Blast after finishing second in the South Group, Sussex have every right to be delighted with their campaign to this point.

The Sharks have already achieved more match wins in two competitions in 2024 (14) than they did in all three combined in 2023 (10), and there is a sense of riding a wave of positivity under Farbrace.

While the head coach has spoken at length about momentum this season, the One-Day Cup – historically a tough competition for the Sharks – will be the next test of how far the club has come in the past 18 months.

Taking place in the shadow of The Hundred, the 50-over competition will also test the squad depth at Hove in a fascinating month of action.

Who’s in and who’s out?

With the 2024 county cricket season reaching a fork in the road at the start of the school holidays, the difference in player reputations is made clear.

The Hundred, backed heavily by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and broadcast with wall-to-wall regularity by Sky Sports and BBC Sport, inevitably hoovers up the best talent in English cricket.

This summer, that includes six Sussex players – a significant increase from the three who were selected in 2023, when only Tymal Mills and Ravi Bopara actually played after Jofra Archer spent the summer sidelined.

Besides Mills and Archer, who will spearhead the Southern Brave’s attack this summer, Sussex will also be shorn of four key members of their 2024 Blast squad.

Most importantly, given he was not selected for England’s Test match series against West Indies, Ollie Robinson will be absent after being selected as a wildcard by Trent Rockets.

Tom Alsop will join Robinson in Nottingham after also being selected throught the wildcard process, while James Coles links up with Mills and Archer at the Brave.

Harrison Ward also has a short-term contract at Oval Invincibles whilst Gus Atkinson is with the England Test squad.

However, Sussex will feel well prepared for the loss of in-form players.

Ward was placed on a T20-only contract last winter so was not expected to play 50-over cricket, while Fabrace has often talked up the ability of Robinson, Alsop and Coles and always knew their availability was dubious.

In the event of these players’ absence, Sussex began quickly planning the look of their One-Day Cup squad.

Speaking after the Sharks’ Blast win over Middlesex to close the South Group, Farbrace confirmed the size and nature of the squad he would work with.

“We haven't signed an overseas player for the for the 50-over cup, and we are going to play all of our 17 man squad that we've got available,” Farbrace said.

“People perhaps who would be seen as fringe players, we don't see as fringe players. There's nobody on our staff who we wouldn’t put in our first team at any time,” he added.

This 17-man squad will look as follows for the duration of the tournament:

Tom Haines, Tom Clark, Oli Carter, Zach Lion-Cachet, Danial Ibrahim, John Simpson, Charlie Tear, Henry Rogers, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Danny Lamb, Bertie Foreman, Jack Carson, Archie Lenham, Henry Crocombe, Ari Karvelas, Sean Hunt, Jack Campbell.

Young guns keen to impress

It is far from unusual for the One-Day Cup to be used as a bridge between Second XI and first-team cricket ever since The Hundred was first played in 2021.

Indeed, the competition was a fine springboard for Coles’ fledgling career, as well as enabling Sussex to blood the likes of Clark, Ibrahim, Lenham and Crocombe in recent years.

After the loss of major stars such as Luke Wells, Phil Salt and Chris Jordan in the pre-pandemic era, Sussex benefited from the low-key nature of the One-Day Cup as their squad was more match-fit when the competition rolled around.

This resulted in a run to the Semi-Finals under Ian Salisbury’s leadership in 2022, though the Sharks slumped to just one win and seven defeats in 2023.

In order to avoid another shellacking, Sussex will have to be more streetwise.

Farbrace said: “Last year, we were very disappointed in the 50-over comp.

“I fully expect us to win more games. And we're not going into it as ‘well, it's a chance to have a break and just focus on the Championship and the T20’ – it’s not. We want to play well.

“We want players to put their hands up and show that they're good players, and they deserve to be on the staff and they deserve to be knocking on the first-team door.”

Sussex know they will need to find consistency early, starting with selection.

The secure bets in the Sussex side throughout the tournament will be Simpson as captain and wicket-keeper, as well as Haines and Clark as openers, Hudson-Prentice and Lamb as all-rounders, and Carson as lead spinner.

Around this sextet, the picture may change considerably, but Farbrace namechecked some players looking to impress after struggling for regular game time so far this season.

“Henry Crocombe has had no first-team cricket this year. He's worked so hard and he's ready to go. Sean Hunt, Ari Karvelas; they'll get good opportunities.

“Henry Rogers, Zach Lion-Cachet, they'll get opportunities to play; Charlie Tear will come into the side when he comes back from Scotland.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for those players that haven’t played in the T20 to come in and show that they deserve to play white-ball cricket and show that they’re not just red-ball cricketers or young players on the fringe of the team.”

Overseas picture

It is notable, too, that Sussex have opted to go without an overseas player for the competition after Daniel Hughes was given a rest before returning for remaining Blast and County Championship matches, and Jaydev Unadkat was asked to arrive in England from late August.

Sussex are one of just six counties to follow this line of thinking for the competition, with Farbrace openly admitting at the start of the season that the One-Day Cup fell third in the club’s list of priorities.

As a less financially powerful club, the Hove-based county know their squad depth will be stretched to breaking point in the next month.

Contingency planning goes into worst-case scenario situations, and within this, the possibility of Clark or Hudson-Prentice being called up to The Hundred, Lamb’s shoulder injury persisting or a drop-off in form of the club’s openers or spinners will have been considered.

Additionally, Simpson will miss one week of action, as Farbrace confirmed: “There will be a period where Simmo just has a week halfway through the tournament that he will miss and have a few days off, and Tom Clark will captain in his absence.”

Farbrace has not appeared phased by any of these rotational calls, and his confidence in the club’s entire squad will be crucial in the competition.

Key challenges

Given the limited 50-over experience of Sussex’s trimmed-down squad, the 2024 One-Day Cup will pose a huge challenge of resources and maturity.

The Sharks will be keen not to throw away the progress of near-perfect performances in the County Championship and T20 Blast so far, but some new names will need to come to the fore.

With just three previous List A appearances between them, Foreman, Lion-Cachet and Rogers will be key features of the team in their first full campaigns of involvement.

By contrast, with 103 List A appearances and three ODI matches for England, Simpson is the perfect captain and replacement for the experience Cheteshwar Pujara previously offered.

Around Simpson, Clark will be vice-captain and former skipper Haines will provide vital insight alongside Hudson-Prentice and Lamb.

The main questions will be whether Haines and Clark can set enough of a foundation to allow the likes of Lion-Cachet, Ibrahim and Rogers to flourish, and whether Karvelas can recapture his 50-over form of 2022 to lead the attack with menace.

Sussex are a more savvy side than they were in any of the previous three campaigns, but while senior players have illustrated the club’s progress, it remains to be seen what the Sharks produce when Farbrace plays his less trusted options.

They are on a more favourable side of the draw, facing Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Glamorgan and Gloucestershire on the road and Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Surrey and Essex at Hove.

But Sussex must remember their current good feeling when faced with difficult situations in this competition, and not let bumps divert them from their targets.

In the height of summer, the heat is truly on for the young buds.

Whether they flourish or wilt, it will be a telling month.

Prediction:

5th-placed finish in Group B

Probable XI vs Nottinghamshire: Haines, Clark, Carter, Lion-Cachet, Hudson-Prentice, Simpson (C, WK), Foreman, Carson, Crocombe, Karvelas, Hunt