Davis and Nash out as Andrew makes mark
SUSSEX chief executive Rob Andrew believes the decision to part company with head coach Mark Davis and senior batsman Chris Nash will see the county “achieve great things” in the long run.
Davis, 46, took charge of Sussex in November, 2015, after Mark Robinson left Hove to become head coach of England women and Davis led Sussex to fourth in Division Two of the County Championship in each of the past two seasons.
The side failed to progress from the group stages of both the T20 Blast and the One-Day Cup in 2016 and 2017 and Andrew felt changes needed to be made having also released batsman Nash from the final year of his contract, ending his 26-year stay at the club.
Andrew said: “After reviewing a disappointing season for the first team, it was concluded that action needed to be taken in order to build for the future.
“The difficult decisions to part company with Mark by mutual consent and to agree to Chris’ request to be released from his contract were part of that action, but at its core were moves to solidify the foundations of a squad that has the potential to achieve great things in the coming years.
“As such, a number of players have been offered, and have signed new or extended contracts, over recent weeks, and more are set to follow.
“This means that we now have a stable and balanced squad made up of a mix of youth and experience that offers real strength across all disciplines.
“Our players can develop together and work towards attaining the successes that such a talented group are capable of.
“I strongly believe that when a new head coach is appointed, they will have the raw materials with which to build a trophywinning side.”
Sussex won the County Championship three times in four years with the last title coming in 2007, but have had limited success since then.
The county did lift the T20 Cup in 2009, as well as winning the Pro40 in the same year but they were relegated from Division One of the County Championship in 2015.
And Davis’ failure to gain promotion back to the top tier, coupled with poor results in the limited-overs competitions led to strong criticism from supporters at Hove. But for Andrew, the plan is more long-term.
He added: “We are continuing to work on our four-year strategic plan for the wider organisation and there will be further news on this in due course.
“A major part of that strategy will be the on-going development of home-grown Sussex players by our performance department.
“This work will continue the already well-established trend of Sussex-bred bowlers and batsmen making their mark in the 1st XI.
“The future of Sussex cricket across the whole county is very positive and exciting and I am looking forward to this coming to fruition over the coming years.”