Five games into a 14-match group stage and Sussex Sharks will be delighted with how they have started this season’s Vitality Blast.
There was disappointment that after beginning with three straight wins they didn’t get the opportunity to maintain their momentum against Surrey at the Kia Oval on Thursday and Somerset at Hove 24 hours later.
Both matches were abandoned because of rain, leaving Sussex top of the group as one of three teams on eight points.
The outfield at the 1st Central County Ground was so saturated on Friday that the umpires took the unusual decision of calling the game off more than two hours before the scheduled start.
Skipper Luke Wright, who returned in their third win against Essex after missing the first two games with a hand injury and made an unbeaten 75, must be delighted.
Despite reaching the knockout stages in the past two years there is a sense that Sussex have underperformed a bit since losing to Worcestershire in the 2018 final.
What will please him is that all of his key players, with the possible exception of Tymal Mills who has yet to really hit his straps, have contributed so far.
Wright’s opening partner Phil Salt has picked up plenty of T20 experience in franchise tournaments around the world in the past two years. And while he is still very capable of explosive power-hitting, there was a maturity to the way he anchored the successful chases against Gloucestershire and Hampshire with unbeaten half-centuries.
Ravi Bopara had a disappointing 2020 tournament by his high standards and averaged just 12.2 but you don’t play 158 ODIs and 38 IT20s for England without having talent in abundance.
His unbeaten 52 in the win over Hampshire was full of silky strokes – and his skiddy medium-pace, which was hardly used last season, has given his captain another bowling option.
Wright, Salt, Bopara, Chris Jordan … they have all impressed in the early stages of the Blast but the narrative has been hijacked by 16-year-old leg spinner Archie Lenham.
Not content with taking a wicket in his first over against Gloucestershire, he picked up three more in front of the TV cameras in the win over Somerset – and then took a sensational running catch to dismiss World Cup winner Jason Roy before the rain arrived at the Oval.
Lenham is a pupil at St Bede’s in Eastbourne, a school which has provided Sussex with several players in recent years including Delray Rawlins, Luke Wells and Sarah Taylor.
His dad Neil and grandfather Les both opened the batting for Sussex and played more than 600 games between them.
Had it not been for injuries – mostly broken fingers – Neil could have played for England he was that good.
Now Archie is continuing the family tradition while his brother Scott – a batsman – played pre-season games and is in and around the professional squad.
Bopara said: “I faced Archie in the nets last season and straight away I thought he had so much potential.
“I haven’t seen many catches better than the one he took with the ball coming over his head against Surrey.
“He dropped a catch against Hampshire last week so that would have been in his mind but he took it so cleanly. He’s on a real upward curve.”
Jordan, who captained Sussex in their first two games, and Wright have both used Lenham carefully but he doesn’t seem at all fazed by anything.
As well as his father, Archie has been coached at St Bede’s by former Sussex skipper Alan Wells, who has passed on tips about the length and speed he has to bowl. It seems he is a quick learner.
Sussex have two games at Hove this week and wins over Glamorgan tomorrow (Tuesday 22 June) and Gloucestershire on Friday would put them in a very strong position to qualify from the group, but squad depth is about to be tested.
Jordan is with England for a short series against Sri Lanka which finishes next Saturday – and George Garton has had a deserved first England call-up for the one-day series with Sri Lanka at the end of the month.
Expect Ollie Robinson to make his first appearance of the competition this week and, after three relatively comfortable chases in their three wins so far, Wright might secretly be hoping that the likes of David Wiese and Delray Rawlins get a longer opportunity with the bat.
On a different note, Sussex have been warned that they face a points deduction after a series of disciplinary transgressions by their players.
The ECB’s Cricket Discipline Commission imposed a suspended points sanction triggered after five players – Jofra Archer, Ollie Robinson, Jack Carson, Ravi Bopara and Delray Rawlins – were found guilty of level one offences – dissent towards an umpire – in the past 12 months.
Sussex are not appealing and recently asked former player – and ICC umpire – Ian Gould to address the squad to discuss behaviour towards umpires.
