The history of Cricket in Sussex

It appears to be that cricket began life in Sussex and Kent with ecclesiastical records dating back to 1611 indicating the first time the sport was documented was in Sussex as well as being the first reference to cricket being played by adults. The records blame cricket for the non-attendance at church on Easter Sunday by two parishioners of Sidlesham in West Sussex.

The first reference to women’s cricket also comes from Sussex and dates from 1677. Formed in March 1839, Sussex County Cricket Club is believed to be the oldest professional sports club in the world, therefore making it certainly the oldest of the eighteen first class County cricket clubs.

Founded in 1971, the Sussex Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Sussex and since 1999 the Premier Division of the Sussex Premier League has been a designated ECB Premier League. With nine titles, local team Preston Nomads are the league’s most successful club.

Since November 2018 the Sussex Cricket League is the largest adult cricket league in the world, with 335 participating teams in 34 divisions. In 2018 the Sussex Cricket League saw the integration of the East Sussex Cricket League, Mid Sussex Cricket League, West Sussex Invitation Cricket League and the Sussex Premier Cricket League.

Sussex County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 10 & 11 June 1839. They won the unofficial Championship seven times and shared it once between 1826 and the formation of the County Championship in 1890. It would then take them 113 years to win the Championship as they finished runners-up for three years in succession between 1932 and 1934.

After World War Two Sussex again finished second in 1953 and fourth in 1955. The 1960s gave rise to Ted Dexter who led the team to victory in the first knock-out competition ever held by the counties in 1963. They won it again in 1964, and the 1970s saw the arrival of exciting players to the team featuring the likes of John Snow, Tony Greig, and Imran Khan. 

It would not be until 2003 that they finally ended their quest for the Championship title, as skipper Chris Adams successfully united a team with only a few stars to add to the obvious space in the trophy cabinet, which came just three years after they had finished in last place. Sussex then repeated their Championship success by winning it again in 2006, doing the double by additionally winning the C&G Trophy. One of the keys to this success was the astute signing of Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, after he took 103 wickets in 2003 and 102 in 2006, where undoubtedly his dedication and professionalism helped Adams to create a culture of success in the dressing-room. Other notable contributions in this period came from the batsmen Richard Montgomerie and Murray Goodwin, and Matt Prior together with bowler James Kirtley, who’s success with the ball helped the team to victory in the 2006 C&G final.

Sussex also has some of the oldest cricket clubs in the world. Dating from 1704, Arundel is recorded as the oldest cricket club in Sussex. 

The aforementioned Preston Nomads Cricket Club was a founder member of the Sussex Cricket League in 1971, having been founded in 1927. Based in Fulking, West Sussex, the club’s 1st XI plays in the Premier League of the Sussex Cricket League, winning the Championship in the League’s inaugural year, and again in 1982 and 1988 and are the current Premier League Champions. Having been Runners Up in The Sussex Cup final in 2004, the 1sts then went on to win the competition the following year. In the late 2000s and early 2010s the 1st XI won the Sussex Premier League six times in eight seasons between 2006 and 2013. They are current champions after winning the Sussex Premier league in 2021.

Other notable clubs across the county are Firle Cricket Club which was founded in 1758 and is quite probably among the ten oldest clubs in the world. On 15th July 1725, the Duke of Richmond challenged Sir William Hall Gage to a match on the same pitch at Firle Place where the club still plays today. 

Henfield Cricket Club also lays claim to possibly one of the oldest cricket clubs in the world having been formed in 1771, while Chalvington and Ripe Cricket Club (CRCC) was once one of the main club sides in the country and the grounds at the Yew Tree Inn have been their home since 1762. In centuries gone by, the Sussex County team played here against legendry players such as W. G. Grace.

In 1851, Sussex cricketer, William Henty, bowled the first ever ball in a first-class cricket match in Australia. In 1864, former Sussex cricketer John Wisden published the ‘Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack’, a cricket reference book that is considered the world’s most famous sports reference book today.

In 1876, Sussex MP and the third Earl of Sheffield, Henry Holroyd laid out a cricket pitch at Sheffield Park near Haywards Heath and this was used on 12 May 1884 for the first cricket match in England between England and Australia. 

In the late 20th century and early 21st century the County Ground in Hove was used for other cricket matches in addition to matches involving Sussex teams. A One Day International match of the 1999 Cricket World Cup between India and South Africa was staged at Hove, which has been followed by various matches involving England women’s cricket team as well as consecutive finals of the Women’s Cricket Super League tournaments.