England brains trust assemble at Hove as Sussex overwhelm Yorkshire

HUW TURBERVILL AT HOVE: Chris Silverwood and James Taylor track Jofra Archer's recovery and watch Joe Root struggle on an otherwise picturesque day

Scorecard

It seemed as if the entire England coaching set-up had decamped to the seaside for day one of the first County Championship match of the season at Hove; they saw a woeful Yorkshire batting performance, and the encouraging sight of Jofra Archer having a long net.

England’s pace maestro hasn’t made it to the Indian Premier League yet after cutting his hand cleaning a fish tank. With Covid such a concern in India, he could play for Sussex instead, hopefully in their match at Northampton starting on May 6. He bowled swiftly against some unfortunate 2nd XI batsmen and had a long bat. He said he “felt good” afterwards. He also did some sprinting on the boundary’s edge in front of the electric scoreboard where those infamous eggs used to sit.

England head coach Chris Silverwood, now with boosted selectorial powers, met him, alongside the bowling coach Jon Lewis, his mentor, who put him up in his home on the Sussex Downs when he moved here from Barbados. Also in attendance was James Taylor, the new head scout, and one of his new team, Geoff Arnold, the Surrey and England seam-bowling stalwart.

They certainly picked an agreeable day for it. Hove looked splendid in the sunshine, and it remains baffling why spectators who are presumably well up on their vaccine programmes cannot attend.

It was a good job Archer wasn’t bowling for Sussex because Yorkshire were bad enough as it was.

They started well. With 380 runs from four Championship innings so far this summer, Adam Lyth looked as if he was seeing it like a football, picking early boundaries off his legs and driving Ollie Robinson, on Silverwood’s radar, up and over cover. Overconfidence was probably his downfall as he clipped George Garton to midwicket and Tom Clark took a remarkably casual-looking one-handed catch high up.

Yorkshire slumped from 60 for 1 to 150 all out. The key wicket was England captain Joe Root (5). He practically walked for his lbw to Garton, even though it looked leg-stumpy. He has made 146 runs in five Championship knocks so far this summer, 101 coming in one innings against Kent.

Garton’s dismissal of Tom Kohler-Cadmore was the most spectacular, knocking off and leg stumps out of the ground in what looked like a game of ‘pick-up sticks’.

Yorkshire fans were glad to see Gary Ballance back in action after his various problems, for his first Championship match in 19 months; this time Garton was the catcher, at slip off fellow left-arm quick season Sean Hunt.

The tail capitulated in woeful fashion.

Brighton-born Garton, 24, was impressive. In fact, some fans wondered if it was the same bowler who had taken 1 for 78 at Lancashire and 0 for 91 against Glamorgan. He certainly chose a good day to raise his game.

^{Joe Root failed to reach double figures in front of the England coach}

If he can maintain his consistency, England could have a Test left-arm quick on their hands. I asked Lewis if we could pencil him in against New Zealand at Lord's on June 2, and he said ‘definitely’, chuckling.

Garton has experience of playing in Australia of course when England dabbled with him on the last Ashes tour.

There were a couple of wickets at the end for Robinson, who was steady, if not the star of the show this time (he took 13 wickets against Glamorgan).

Tom Haines has also started the season superbly, making 155 at Lancashire and 87 at Glamorgan; he has been continuing where he left off in fact, as he scored 117 in the final Championship match of last season, against Surrey at The Oval. Here he looked in good touch again, finishing the day on 71, with Sussex 114 for 3.

The 22-year-old from Crawley looks secure at the crease, his head still and his eyes watchful, and he latched on to anything on his pads or wide of off stump. He was not dissimilar to Lyth, actually.

Dom Bess’ struggles continue. After his harsh treatment by England in the winter, when they judged him by the quality of his bowling but not his actual record, which was impressive, he went wicketless in the first two matches of the season. As his figures show (13-2-22-0), he was tidy again here, he just needs some luck.

Injured Sussex batsman Phil Salt looked more cheerful as he walked around the ground; he is out of his surgical boot now and should return in a month after breaking his foot cycling.

^{George Garton produced the image of the day - dismantling Tom Kohler-Cadmore's stumps}

Another win for Sussex here - and the signs are good - and they will be delighted with their start under new coach Ian Salisbury.

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