Sussex Cricket looking to be inspired by England's "Bazball" tactics

Sussex kick of their County Championship campaign today at home to Durham and head coach Paul Farbrace is hoping to see his side play attacking, positive cricket.

Farbrace said: “I like attacking positive cricket. I think it's the way to play the game and to entertain people.”

England’s test side have been transformed since Brendon McCullum took over as coach last summer. Winning 10 of their last 12 test matches and ending up victorious is series against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan.

Their bold, fearless approach had revolutionised the way Test cricket is played around the world and a number of Sussex players believe it will also impact the county game.

Bowler Tymal Mills said: “It’s very clear how the England test team are playing and if you want to get into that test team you need to play a certain way.

“There is no confusion as to how England are playing their test cricket at the moment. It’s brilliant to watch. I think that will trickle down into the [County] Championship.

“I think we might see players batting differently to what we have in the past. Which is exciting and pushes the game forward. Hopefully, it is an exciting time to watch cricket at all levels.”

Ollie Robinson has already had experience of playing under the leadership of McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, being the team’s leading wicket taker in the Pakistan series win.

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Sharks One Day Cup captain Tom Haines also tasted a form of Bazball whilst on tour with the England Lions over the winter.

He said: “I think there will be more players, playing in an attacking style. It’s been brilliant to watch. I had a little taste with the Lions in the winter and it was really good.”

Coach Farbrace was quick to point out that while he was happy with the attacking batting line-up, it was the Sussex bowlers who need to change their mindset if the team had any chance of winning promotion this season.

Farbrace said: “We have all been caught-up in the way England are batting, but I love the way the England bowlers bowl. This team hasn't taken 20 wickets in too many games of cricket.

“We’ve got some very talented young bowlers here, if we can get them into a mindset of taking wickets, rather than worrying about how many runs they go for, this is the sort of mentality shift we are after.

“Our batting I have no issues with, I think we have a lot of batters that can score a lot of runs. If we can get that shift in our bowlers mindset, that could work really well for us.”