Horsham proud of nurturing Sussex talent as Thornely praises players

The Lions skipper has spoken of his pride as seeing Tom Haines as the latest club player to pen a deal with the county.

It carries on a long line of association that Cricketfield Road has had with Sussex with local lads Chris Nash and Will Beer coming through the ranks as well as Robin Martin-Jenkins, Carl Hopkinson, Andrew Hodd and Tony Pigott and Chris Waller, to name a few over the years.

Current captain Thornely also played for Sussex and Leicestershire himself.

Horsham youngster and Sussex Academy graduate Haines is now the most recent addition to that list, penning a one-year deal at Hove.

Thornely is hopeful Horsham will continue to see a lot of the left-handed batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler during their own Sussex League Premier Division campaign.

He said: “Tom Haines signed his first pro contract with Sussex this winter. It’s great to see another player from the club becoming a professional and continuing the tradition of Horsham producing Sussex players.

“We should see a lot more of Tom this season and hopefully he hits the ground running after a winter training at Hove and a pre-season in Cape Town.

“We have some outstanding talent at the club and these players showed glimpses of this last year.

“Tom Clark is a very promising young player and I saw him play a brilliant innings last year (147*). I’m sure he’ll become a consistent match winner for us this year.”

One player that has shot to success since joining Horsham as their overseas in 2016 in Archer.

The Barbadian, who was formerly at Middleton, has had a meteoric rise in two years. The former Horsham paceman was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals in the IPL auction in February for $1.1million (£800,000) - 17 times his reserve price.

That comes since signing a contract at Sussex - who had spotted him while playing for Horsham - and going on to become their leading County Championship wicket-taker in 2017.

Thornely has wished his former team-mate well and said they will be keeping a close eye on his progress.

“Jofra Archer had quite a good winter I’d say.” said Thornely.

“His success has been well documented recently, but it’s great to see someone that’s played at your club just 18 months previously then get auctioned off - in their first auction - for such a significant amount of money.

“I’m not sure if that has ever happened to someone who has only played one full season of professional cricket. We wish him all the luck in the world and look forward to watching him bring some big name scalps home in his pocket.”