Aneesh Kapil accuses "malicious" Sussex of sabotaging career

GEORGE DOBELL: Aneesh, a former England Under-19 cricketer, has instigated legal proceedings against Sussex after claiming his career was "sidelined" by deliberately obstructive management

Aneesh Kapil has alleged there was a "malicious effort" to deny him opportunities at Sussex.

Aneesh, a former England Under-19 cricketer who went on to represent Worcestershire, Surrey and Sussex, is now 29 and continues to fight for opportunities in professional cricket.

But he has instigated legal proceedings against Sussex after claiming his career was "sidelined" by deliberately obstructive management. In particular, he alleges he was retained as the first team's 12th man in 2019 and prevented from playing in the second XI as a "deliberate ploy" to provide "other players" with an opportunity to impress while he was denied such chances.

He also claims he was denied opportunities in 2018 despite compelling form for the second team and told in August 2018 that there was no future for him at the club. After being given a new trial at the club in 2019, however, he was again told in August of that year that he would not be considered for the first team. He believes this was too late in the season to allow him time to trial elsewhere.

"I want to be very clear this was a malicious effort to purposely deprive me of matches in the 2nd XI," Aneesh wrote in a public statement on Instagram. "There was absolutely no justification to keep me doing drinks during such an important period in the season… if they were not going to give me further opportunities in the first XI."

Aneesh further alleges the club's then director of cricket, Keith Greenfield, "ignored my calls, emails and messages" when he sought an explanation.

"The club were undoubtedly aware of the detrimental consequences their decisions had on my prospects of securing a contract with another club in the 2018 summer by releasing me in August… For them to then repeat the same course of action in 2019 can only be described as deeply disturbing and morally reprehensible."

He goes on suggest that Sussex's "strategy of promoting bowlers to the top of the batting order" was "further proof of the deliberate attempt to remove me from the squad without justification."

"The club exploited me, displaying a total disregard for my performances."

^{Kapil was an England Under-19 international [David Rogers/Getty Images]}

^{Kapil believes he was "unjustly denied" opportunities at Sussex [Mike Hewitt/Getty Images]}

His statement includes statistics from the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In 2018, for example, he averaged 81.16 in the Second XI Championship when he was told he would not receive a first-team opportunity at the club - more than 30 runs higher than the next candidate.

Aneesh claims the PCA, the players' union, "actively discouraged" him from pursuing the matter and describes himself as "utterly appalled" by the way they handled his complaint.

The Cricketer understands Aneesh has also made allegations about a now-retired player at Worcestershire and a former teammate at Surrey, who was reprimanded at the time after using the 'P' word. The complaint has also been submitted to the PCA and England and Wales Cricket Board.

Aneesh has gone public with his allegations having lost confidence in the ECB's complaints process. He first reported his concerns to them in March 2022 but says he has had no resolution and very little communication following his complaints.

Sussex CEO Rob Andrew told The Cricketer: "We absolutely deny any allegation of discrimination."