The 'time was right' for Sussex to come back to Horsham

Professional cricket will make a comeback for the first time since 2014 when the Sharks play a Royal London One-Day Cup fixture at Cricket Field Road next summer.

The opposition will be revealed when the 2020 county schedule is confirmed in November.

Horsham will become the third outground currently used by Sussex for men’s first-team cricket, alongside Arundel Castle and The Saffrons in Eastbourne.

Speaking to Danny Pike on BBC Radio Sussex, Andrew stressed that the 'long history of Sussex playing at Horsham' and the impressive facilities at Cricket Field Road meant it 'just made sense' for the Sharks to return to the town.

He said: "There's been a long history of Sussex playing at Horsham for many, many years. I think it goes back to the 1920s if my history is right.

"And Sussex, as with other counties, have always played around the county. It may have fallen away a little bit over the last decade but I think several counties are trying to bring it back.

"We've been at Eastbourne for the last few years and we will continue to do that. We play at Arundel, and Horsham is in the north of the county and it just makes sense to try and go back there.

"To be fair to Horsham, the ground and the wicket in particular, the players have always loved playing there. There's never been a question that the facilities or the wicket being not right for first class cricket.

"There's just been some other issues which I wasn't here for when the decision was made in 2014 to move away from Horsham.

"We've actually been talking about this for a couple of years and we just felt the time was right and there was an opportunity to start going there next summer.

"We've taken that and we're really looking forward to it."