Sussex off-spinner Jack Carson continued to impress in the County Championship with a four-wicket haul on Friday (May 8).
Jack Carson follows century with four-wicket haul
The latest round of the 2026 season kicked off on Friday, with Sussex hosting Leicestershire at the County Ground in Hove. Home skipper Ollie Robinson chose to field after winning the toss, but it took 21.1 overs for the first breakthrough, which came as Jack Leaning ran out Rishi Patel with a direct hit from gully.
Thereafter, though, the day belonged to off-spinner Jack Carson. He had Australian Test opener Jake Weatherald caught at cover, and after Sol Budinger and Jonathan Tattersall were dismissed, Carson ripped through the Foxes' middle-order.
Stephen Eskinazi was beaten in flight and nicked one to slip via his pad; Ben Cox was caught at forward short leg, and two balls later Ben Green was beaten on his outside edge to fall lbw. At that point, Carson's figures read 4-20 in 7.4 overs, and he finished with 4-40 in 13 as Leicestershire posted 328.
Match 44, Sussex vs Leicestershire
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Friday's performance came on the back of another four-wicket haul for the 25-year-old last week, 4-128, even as Sussex lost to Surrey. Carson also contributed with the bat in that game, making 105 from No.9 in the first innings, after walking in at 92-7. That was his second first-class century, and his highest score in the format.
Butcher: Carson could be a leading candidate for England
Carson has been name-checked by former England batter Mark Butcher as a potential candidate to play for England as early as this summer, given that the Test team's backing of Shoaib Bashir has seen limited success thus far.
"Given that there isn’t an outstanding candidate, as they did with Bashir, England would do well to set their stall out on somebody," he said on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast earlier this week. "If that is [Jack] Carson at Sussex who has bowled thousands of overs, always plays for them, feisty character, has scored hundreds in first-class hundreds, gives it a real rip, Swanny [Graeme Swann] is a big fan..."
"I think we’ve talked ourselves into a position where somebody like Carson at Sussex is a leading candidate, or perhaps Liam Patterson-White, who isn’t quite as outstanding with the bat but who I’ve noticed is no mug either."
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
