Arundel Castle set to welcome cricket stars

Fixtures have been announced with another bumper schedule in store at the famous venue.

Once again, Sussex Cricket will visit for their annual Festival of Cricket week, while both Bangladesh and South Africa ‘A’ will play fixtures at Arundel.

This year’s curtain-raiser sees Bangladesh come up against a Duke of Norfolk’s XI, captained by former Sussex skipper and England international Chris Adams, on Monday, May 1. Another international team, South Africa ‘A’, then come to town for a four-day friendly with Sussex which begins on June 14.

Sussex’s week-long stint
begins with a County Championship Division 2 encounter with Leicestershire from July 5, before they round off the week with T20 Blast meeting against Glamorgan on July 9.

Along with these fixtures, the Castle will also host ECB Finals with the under-17 County Championship three-day final, Disability County Championship final and 2nd XI T20 finals day all taking place.

Arundel Castle Cricket executive secretary James Rufey believes it will be a year to savour and said: “We are delighted by the list of fixtures and activities this year. The variety of matches we provide is something that is matched by very few.

“The name of the game for us here is to offer a variety of matches across all different forms and we’ve got that this year.

“With international teams coming here as well, we are able to offer members, visitors and everyone something special.

“The ground is always a place to savour – but if the weather is on-side we can look forward to many good crowds and some fantastic cricket.”

With international teams making a return to Arundel this year, Rufey believes it could be an extra-special 2017.

He added: “International teams used to come previously and it’s great to welcome Bangladesh in 2017. We’ve been without an international team coming to us for several years, so to have one come over is fantastic.

“To have South Africa ‘A’ face Sussex here at Arundel is a real coup as well.”

Another major attraction is the annual visit of Sussex for a County Championship match, then a T20 Blast fixture. With that confirmed yet again, Rufey is hoping to see great numbers attend.

He said: “Weather is crucial for us other a five-month period but it’s even more essential when Sussex come to visit. The four-day game is what it is, then we round things off with a T20 Blast match.

“I think last year we attracted nearly 7,000 for the T20 match alone, then 8,000 the year before. It’s always something that is well attended and we hope supporters turn out in number once again.”

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