We want to win Division 1, not just survive: Paul Farbrace lays out Sussex success plan for 2025

In his pre-season briefing, Farbrace discussed how his squad is shaping up, how a series of two-day friendlies have strengthened his belief and where Sussex need to improve to make an immediate impact on their Division 1 return.

Farbrace, now in his third season at Hove, is understood to have a five-year plan to take Sussex to the top of Division 1, and did not shy away from lofty expectations in his latest comments.

“Many people have been talking about survival in Division 1 being our goal. It definitely isn't,” said Farbrace.

“Aiming to win Division 1 is our goal. And I'm not sitting here saying that we're absolutely going to win Division 1. What I'm saying is, if we start talking about survival and let's see if we can do okay, we're giving the players a let-up before we've even started.”

Those punchy comments are certain to embolden Sussex players and supporters before the start of the season.

The substance behind them, meanwhile, appears to be based in Farbrace’s pleasure with the success of his signings and captain appointments.

Joined by County Championship and One-Day Cup captain John Simpson and T20 Blast skipper Tymal Mills for his press conference, Farbrace made a point of praising the work both put in during 2024.

“We know it's going to be a tough season,” said the 57-year-old. “But with these two people beside me that took on the captaincy of their various teams last year, there was a lot of good things happening on the field.

“There's a lot happening off the field, but in terms of what we're doing on it, we're making good progress. In Championship cricket, we're about where we wanted to be at this stage.

“Simmo coming in and taking the captaincy last year, along with Danny Lamb, [were] two excellent signings that made it look like I know what I'm doing.

“Simmo went on to be our Player of the Season in red ball cricket, captained brilliantly, scored an awful lot of runs and set a really good tone for others to follow. We're looking to build on that.”

Despite Farbrace’s positivity, questions remain about the make-up of Sussex’s squad and their lack of Division 1 experience in the county’s first season since 2015 back in the County Championship’s top flight.

Only Ollie Robinson, Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Mills were in the Sussex squad a decade ago, while just three other players – Tom Alsop, Lamb and Simpson – have played Division 1 cricket for other counties.

Farbrace responded to this by citing the number of games a youthful squad have played together.

“There were players in previous years that, because of the size of the squad and availability, got a lot of cricket but perhaps weren't ready to play and were learning to play first class cricket,” said Farbrace. “That's actually benefiting us now because they've got a lot of experience for young players.

“I genuinely think now that we've got a core group of players who can challenge and play really well in Division One, and I think we've got a squad with really good competition. “We've got the right people in the right places and we've got the right balance. I believe they've got the ability to play against the best teams.”

In the video player above, see Will Hugall’s interview with Tom Haines

With winners of the last three County Championship seasons, Surrey, lining up alongside the likes of Somerset, Essex and Hampshire to pose Sussex challenges in 2025, the right preparation has been key.

The vast majority of Sussex’s squad kept active with southern hemisphere stints over the English winter, and returned to Hove in the past fortnight. They have since had two-day friendlies away at Hampshire and Kent, and with a further match taking place against Surrey at home, there have been positive signs.

“I know it's only pre-season games, but the two days at Hampshire gave me an awful lot of confidence watching the way that our batters played against a very, very good Hampshire attack,” said Farbrace.

“You're no longer fighting against [just] two really good bowlers and get a period where the standard isn't quite so high. The attack that we faced at Hampshire was outstanding on a wicket [that was] nipping around. Our batters all played differently, and that's how we want them to play.”

On the back of those comments, it was added that Sussex intend to shake-up their selection this season to overcome issues with taking wickets between the 20th and 80th overs of an innings.

Farbrace said: “We are looking this year to play an out-and-out third seamer, so rather than necessarily playing two all-rounders, we play a third seamer.

“That might be that one of those all-rounders; Lamb, Hudson-Prentice. But we're looking at our ability to take wickets on good pitches, and also the other aspect is, we need to be more consistent with our batting.”

While Farbrace was not specific with names, the new selection policy could favour Henry Crocombe and Sean Hunt, who both had positive ends to the 2024 season.

Meanwhile, Sussex’s off-season recruitment focused on strengthening white ball squads, with all three domestic signings coming in without first-class experience.

George Thomas, Nantes Oosthuizen and Troy Henry are expected to add competition to T20 and One-Day Cup squads, and represent a clear club policy this winter.

“We never looked to sign anybody with any experience in the first half of the winter,” said Farbrace. “One of the things we were excited about was actually working to develop the group that we've got. We felt that we had enough quality and enough experience for these players to justify being given their first go at playing in Division 1.

“When these young guys all became available, [it was from] three very different routes. Chris Adams recommended Nantes [Oosthuizen], the open trial day threw up Troy [Henry].

“We want to make sure the players in our squad who didn't play a lot last year know that going into the last year of their contracts, it’s all about performance.

“That's where we've raised the stakes for a few of them. Three years worth of opportunity is about the right length of time,” added Farbrace.

“It might be that at the end of the season, we have a bit of movement, but we genuinely feel that we've got a squad that are more than capable of challenging without adding any extra experience.”