Why are Sussex Sharks struggling in the Vitality Blast?

It is evident that the bowlers aren't bowling tight enough and are letting too many runs to slip away, allowing teams like Glamorgan, for example, to set an unbeatable score of 219 and Essex to pass Sussex's score of 147 in just 15 overs.

One bowler who has been a disappointment so far is Shadab Khan, a player Sussex fans thought would shine in a tournament like this as he does back in Pakistan, where he is arguably one of their best bowlers.

But the leg spinner hasn't proved himself to the fans or Paul Farbrace with only four wickets so far, three of those in one game, showing his inconsistency in some expensive spells.

On the other hand, though, are Sussex's batsmen doing that much better? Not really.

Sussex's batters have struggled to get the total past 150 in every game with generally one player getting a good score to potentially keep them in the game, but the other batsmen not getting over 25.

One batsman that usually stands out is the T20 captain Ravi Bopara. Last year Bopara showed himself to be a confident and aggressive batsman who would be scoring in the 40s and 50s nearly every game, making a huge impact and helping the Sharks to win more games. But this Vitality Blast campaign hasn't been one to remember for him,even though he scored a remarkable 144 off 49 balls in one of the warm-up games.

Sussex's struggle for this year's T20 blast campaign could also be because of the the general strength of the squad.

The players signed to strengthen this season's Vitality blast squad were Shadab Khan and Michael Burgess,while Nathan McAndrew is also in the squad having been signed earlier for the season.

Last year – when they also failed to make the knockout stages – Sussex signed four overseas players so there was always one available, but this season they have not gone down that route, and are certainly missing the influence of Afghanistan sta Rashid Khan.

By signing overseas players, teams get experienced players that have played for their country on numerous occasions, meaning they have that more expert knowledge of when their bowling or batting might be going wrong, and to know how to change this into good form.

This year Sussex lack the extra experience and knowledge that other teams might have, relying more on homegrown players, and this could be a huge reason why Sussex are struggling to win games.

Having said that, a couple of back-to-back wins can change everything – so all hope is not lost yet.

The Sharks visit Middlesex tonight (Thurs June 8) and host Surrey at Hove tomorrow (Fri 9).