Hove rises to Sandri

Pepler Sandri is crowd favourite at Hove

A near full-house at Hove came to enjoy Australia’s stroke-makers tuning up for the Ashes series.

Instead, they gave Pepler Sandri an ovation he will never forget after the 26-year-old made a stunning Sussex debut with three coveted top-order wickets.

Sandri removed Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich and Marcus North, not bad for someone who might not have played had Sussex turned down Australia’s request to make the opening tour game 12-a-side.

By his own admission, coach Mark Robinson has taken a punt on Sandri. Sussex had done their homework, though, on a player who is English-qualified through his Italian father Emiliano, who had settled on the Cape when he was 19.

It represented a second chance in county cricket for Sandri.

Last season, after he was recommended to Yorkshire by Geoff Boycott, Sandri had a few second-team games and took wickets in the Huddersfield League for West Clayton.

But, before yesterday, in his career of just 27 first-class matches his claim to fame was that he is one of only 12 players to take an all-lbw hat-trick.

Former Sussex off-spinner Paul Philipson, who is based in the Cape but was watching from the pavilion yesterday, monitored his progress and assistant coach Mark Davis came home from South Africa earlier this year and recommended that Sussex take a punt on him.

The county haven’t got an unblemished record when it comes to signing relatively unknown seamers in recent years. Does anyone remember Jason Voros or Shaun Rashid?

But the 6,500 crowd were buzzing 15 minutes after lunch when Sandri picked up Katich and North in ten deliveries to add to the scalp of Hughes with the new ball.

Sandri said: “I enjoyed that, it felt good to be out in the middle again and my rhythm was good. A fortnight ago I was playing for the second team so it was quite a contrast to bowl against Australia but I enjoyed it.”

The start of Sandri’s Sussex career has been hampered by a side strain, the most frustrating injury a fast bowler can get, and then an abdominal problem.

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