Sussex, part of Group 3 in the 2021 County Championship, will play their first game against Lancashire on April 8 – here’s the preview and fixtures list for the competition.

County Championship 2021: Sussex preview

Captain

Ben Brown

Last year

6/6 South Group

Player movements

In: Sean Hunt (unattached), Rashid Khan (Afg, T20)
Out: Danny Briggs (Warks), Luke Wells (Lancs), Harry Finch, Will Sheffield (both released)

Key player

Ollie Robinson – the 27-year-old has developed a reputation as one of the most skilful seamers on the circuit and he was sorely missed while on England duty last summer, waiting for the Test debut which never came. In the two matches he played he took 14 wickets at 12.50, and his record since the start of 2018 is outrageous: 166 wickets at 17.74.

Bolter

George Garton – the left-arm speedster was asked to lead the attack in Robinson’s absence and did so admirably, adding consistency to the raw pace which led to him being called up as cover during the 2017/18 Ashes series. With his batting coming along nicely too, the 23-year-old looks primed for a big year.

County Championship 2021: Sussex fixtures

Sussex v Lancashire, The 1st Central County Ground, Thursday, April 8
Glamorgan v Sussex, Sophia Gardens, Thursday, April 15
Sussex v Yorkshire, The 1st Central County Ground, Thursday, April 22
Lancashire v Sussex, Emirates Old Trafford, Thursday, April 29
Northamptonshire v Sussex, The County Ground, Thursday, May 6
Sussex v Kent, The 1st Central County Ground, Thursday, May 13
Sussex v Northamptonshire, The 1st Central County Ground, Thursday, May 27
Yorkshire v Sussex, Emerald Headingley, Thursday, June 3
Sussex v Glamorgan, The 1st Central County Ground, Sunday, July 4
Kent v Sussex, Beckenham, Sunday, July 11

You can check the full list of County Championship fixtures here.

Wisden says

After three seasons at Hove, Jason Gillespie has headed home to Australia. Ian Salisbury takes over as coach (with James Kirtley leading the T20 side) and a fresh start may not be such a bad thing after two disappointing red-ball campaigns; a sixth-place finish in Division Two fell well short of expectations in 2019, and last summer a youthful side finished bottom of the South Group, receiving some heavy tap along the way.

Stuart Meaker struggled in his first year on the south coast and the best individual performances came from youngsters: 20-year-old off-spinner Jack Carson leading the wicket-taking charts and Tom Haines, 22, hitting the club’s solitary hundred.

The signing of Australian Test batsman Travis Head, whose deal was postponed last summer, was yet to be confirmed at the time of writing.

Prediction

6th in Division 2

This preview first appeared in issue 42 of Wisden Cricket Monthly.