Tom Haines to captain Sussex in County Championship

Ravi Bopara has replaced Luke Wright as the county's T20 Blast skipper, with George Garton as his deputy

Tom Haines will captain Sussex in the LV= Insurance County Championship, with Ravi Bopara replacing Luke Wright at the helm in the T20 Blast.

Sussex have been without a permanent red-ball skipper since Ben Brown was replaced midway through the 2021 campaign, with Haines initially stepping in until the end of the season. It was then expected that Travis Head would lead the side in 2022, only for the Australian to opt out of his contract in early March.

Haines, 23, who established himself as a senior player in a young side last summer by topping the nationwide run-scoring charts in the County Championship, will captain "on an interim basis". Ollie Robinson will be his deputy, though how much the England seamer will be available is dependent on his international selection.

In acknowledgement of the risk of overburdening Haines, who also captained in the Royal London Cup last summer, a club statement added that all will be done to "ensure the in-form batsman has all the support needed to lead the side this summer".

Ian Salisbury, the county's head coach in first-class cricket, added that new signing Steven Finn would also be on hand to offer his insight.

^{Ravi Bopara is the club's new T20 captain (Harry Trump/Getty Images)}

Meanwhile, Bopara will fill the void left by Wright, who resigned as the club's T20 captain a fortnight ago.

He spoke ahead of Finals Day last season, where Sussex were beaten by eventual winners Kent in the semi-finals under his watch, about the importance of retaining talent, having watched several stalwarts leave the county.

Laurie Evans, Danny Briggs, Reece Topley, Luke Wells, Harry Finch, Chris Jordan, Michael Burgess and Phil Salt have all departed in recent years.

Bopara is a veteran of 411 T20 appearances, making him the fifth-most capped player in the format's history. He will be assisted by George Garton as vice-captain, while one of Jofra Archer or Tymal Mills will lead the team if Bopara is unavailable, with Garton remaining as second-in-command.