Promotion race hots up as Sussex welcome Leicestershire

Sussex welcome Leicestershire to Hove on Tuesday for the latest round of Specsavers County Championship matches (10.30am start) - as the race for promotion hots up.
The forecast is looking good as Sussex welcome Leicestershire to HoveThe forecast is looking good as Sussex welcome Leicestershire to Hove
The forecast is looking good as Sussex welcome Leicestershire to Hove

Jason Gillespie has selected an unchanged 13-man squad for the fixture.

Despite a loss against Middlesex last week, third-placed Sussex are still well-positioned in the race for promotion from division two, just nine points behind Kent in second with four matches to play.

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Jofra Archer’s eight wickets at Lord’s – including the fifth first-class five-wicket haul of his career during Middlesex’s second innings - mean the all-rounder has raced to 29 wickets from just five Championship matches so far this season. His average of 15.55 is the second best in the division amongst bowlers with at least twenty wickets.

Ollie Robinson took six wickets in the game, taking him to 46 in this year’s Championship and placing him fifth on the list of wicket-takers across both divisions.

Despite a low-scoring game last week, no team in division two has more batting bonus points than Sussex’s 25. Luke Wells went past 7,000 first-class runs in his second innings against Middlesex.

Ben Brown (capt. & wk)

Jofra Archer

Will Beer

Danny Briggs

Harry Finch

Tom Haines

Chris Jordan

Delray Rawlins

Ollie Robinson

Phil Salt

Luke Wells

David Wiese

Luke Wright

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Leicestershire come into tomorrow’s match after two consecutive defeats. Nevertheless, four wins and two draws from their first eight games has put them among the contenders for a promotion spot. After ten games, they sit in fifth place, 39 points behind Kent in second.

Ben Raine – who will move to Durham at the end of the season – and Pakistani overseas player, Mohammad Abbas have been the pick of Leicestershire’s bowlers in the Championship this year, taking 45 and 35 wickets respectively.

Colin Ackerman leads the way with the bat for Leicestershire. His 749 runs put him third on the list of division two run-scorers, 48 ahead of our own Ben Brown in fourth. Opener, Paul Horton is also enjoying a reasonable season having made 556 Championship runs so far this season.