Mark Robinson, who coached Sussex to two titles, returns to Hove as director of cricket

Mark Robinson is back at Sussex Cricket^1,2,3,4 as director of cricket, the club confirmed on Thursday. He takes the job part-time.

Robinson spent ten years as head coach at Hove. In that time Sussex won the County Championship Division One title in 2006 and 2007, the Friends Provident Trophy in 2006, the Pro40 National League in 2008 and 2009, and the Twenty20 Cup in 2009. He later took England Women to the 2017 World Cup and won another Division One title with Warwickshire in 2021.

“I’m delighted to be back at Hove in a position where I can play my part in helping Sussex continue to be one of the most respected Clubs in the Country,” he said. He first joined the club in 1997 and said he had been “one small building block” in the run of success that followed. “Work has already started to ensure that we do that again.”

He said the club “have taken some hits in the last year”. Sussex have cut the size of the playing squad, and new men’s head coach Matt Walker expects to work with 17 or 18 players next summer.

Walker started on Monday. He spent eight years as head coach at Kent and arrives from Warwickshire, where as batting coach he helped them to their first Division One title in five years. “It feels like I’ve been here for quite a while already. Feels like home,” he said in his first interview. He said he was “absolutely delighted” to have Robinson back.

There is a new chief executive on the way as well. Beth Barrett-Wild, who ran the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 as tournament director after 13 years at the England and Wales Cricket Board, becomes chief executive on 1 January. She will be the club’s first female chief executive and its tenth permanent one. Alex Paterson stays as acting chief executive until then.

Memberships for 2027 are on sale now. The standard package costs £290 and covers every home County Championship match at Hove and every home One Day Cup group match, men’s and women’s. Next summer’s fixtures are expected at the end of November.