After a five-year absence, Sussex Sharks will play a Royal London One-Day Cup fixture at the ground at the height of the summer. The precise details of the match will be announced when the 2020 county schedule is announced 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.
Rob Andrew, Sussex Cricket chief executive, expressed his delight at the addition of another venue to the club’s fixture list: “The return of county cricket to Horsham is brilliant news. Continuing to grow the game across the whole of the county is one of our main ambitions and bringing first-team cricket to another part of Sussex can only help with that.
There is nothing more inspiring than seeing top-level athletes perform in the flesh, and it’s brilliant that even more people will now have the opportunity to see our current crop of professionals in action.
Sussex, of course, already has a rich history of playing at Cricket Field Road and we’re delighted that this will resume next summer. Hopefully it will continue for many more years after that. I’d like to thank Chris [Shambrook, Horsham HSC club manager] and Richard [Marshall, Horsham CC cricket chairman] for their work in making our return possible.”
Horsham CC club manager, Chris Shambrook said: “Rob Andrew and the team at Sussex have been working alongside the committee here at Horsham on this project for over 18 months since various factors ended our relationship in 2015. We feel that the right balance has been found and it is mutually beneficial for both parties.
On a personal note I have been coming to the Horsham festival since the late 70’s and it is an iconic event with such great memories of matches and star players through the years. On top of that, it’s a superb place for the local cricket community to meet up.
Whenever I mention my place of work, the question I always get asked is: ‘when are Sussex coming back?’. Well, now I can proudly tell them!”
Horsham CC cricket chairman, Richard Marshall added: “Horsham has a tremendous history of festival cricket of over 100 years and it is fantastic it is returning.
We have had a fabulous relationship with Sussex over the years providing players such as Tony Pigott, Robin Martin Jenkins, Chris Nash, Jofra Archer and hope to have home grown talents Will Beer, Tom Haines and Tom Clark in the side when Sussex return.”
Sponsorship and hospitality packages for Sussex’s fixture at Horsham next summer are available. If you or your business are interested, please email admin@horshamsportsclub.com or call Chris Shambrook on 01403 254 628.
