Sussex coach 'bitterly disappointed' after losing start in One Day Cup

Chasing 291 to win, they slumped to 73-5 before rallying. But despite 75 from Tom Alsop, 40 by Dan Ibrahim and 26 from Aristides Karvelas, they;d left themselves too much to do.

Salisbury said: “We are bitterly disappointed. We bowled all right, we had the best of the conditions. They probably scored 25 more than we wanted but the pitch flattened out, yet we were 73 for five.

“I don’t know whether we were tentative or what but it is not often you come to Trent Bridge and have a chance to chase some under 300 on a good pitch, so to not knock them off is very disappointing.

“It is about taking responsibility. If a few players had batted like they do in four-day cricket, if they score quickly enough they will get the runs.

“Tom Alsop and Danny Ibrahim showed what could be done on that pitch but you don’t chase 290 if you are 73 for five, even on a pitch where it doesn’t swing, seam or spin.”

Salisbury revealed Ollie Robinson – who has been named in England’s squad for the Test series with South Africa starting on August 17 – was left out of the side because he was not 100 per cent.

“Ollie travelled with the intention of playing but the game here last week took quite a lot out of him, with him needing to bowl more overs than we would have liked, and he wasn’t quite ready."

Sussex’s group also includes well-resourced sides like Warwickshire and Surrey, who are among the favourites to reach the final at Trent Bridge on September 17. But with The Hundred taking away star names from most of the counties it looks like an open field. Few would have predicted that last year’s final would be contested by Glamorgan and Durham.

Sussex now have two home games against Leicestershire on Friday and Gloucestershire two days later.

Salisbury said: “We have Cheteshwar [Pujara] available and the young players who we played in the competition a year ago have all got a year’s experience under their belt. We want to be competitive and believe we can give the tournament a red-hot go.”