Sussex — The Roundarm County of the 1830s

Sussex had been a leading cricketing county since the late eighteenth century. The patronage of the Prince Regent at Brighton, the gentry support across the county, and the cricketing village tradition of the South Downs gave Sussex a deep talent base. Roundarm bowling had been pioneered there by Lillywhite and Broadbridge in the 1820s.

Sussex's cricketing tradition was already old by 1830. The county had been a stronghold of the game since the eighteenth century, and the patronage of the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood and of George IV (then Prince Regent) at Brighton had made the county a centre of fashionable cricket through the 1820s. Sussex's modern strength dated from the legalisation of roundarm in 1828, which they had pushed for harder than any other county. Through the 1830s their eleven was built around William Lillywhite's relentless accuracy, Jem Broadbridge's faster roundarm, Tom Box's wicketkeeping, and a settled batting line-up including James Dean, Charles Taylor and the young Jemmy Dean. The county played most of its home matches at the Brighton ground (the Royal Brunswick Cricket Club, on what is now Brunswick Square) and travelled regularly to Lord's, the Oval, and to away fixtures across the South. Sussex's biggest result of the decade was a series of victories over the All-England eleven in the late 1830s. The county was the chief supplier of professionals to the South side in North v South matches, with Lillywhite, Box and Dean in nearly every fixture.

“Sussex are second to none in the field, and Lillywhite is the finest bowler in England.”

Sussex's strength continued into the 1840s, though Kent overtook them as the leading county once Pilch and Mynn were both at full strength. The Sussex Cricket Club (later Sussex County Cricket Club) was formally constituted in 1839, the first county club to be formed under that name.