Ben Brown goes back a very long way with Sussex.

Right back to the days when he played alongside Will Beer in the county’s under-11s Best mate Beero has been skipper more often than Brown growing up.

But the way Brown grew into the role when required last season – and his previous status as Luke Wright’s vice-captain – will stand him in good stead as he takes command of the county’s promotion push on Monday.

Brown, 28, succeeds Wright as captain for the remaining Specsavers County Championship fixtures as Sussex look to continue making up ground in the division two promotion race.

As widely expected, New Zealand international Ross Taylor will lead Sharks in the NatWest T20 blast. Leadership will mean a lot to both men, even though they are from opposite sides of the globe.

The Argus:

Ben Brown keeping wicket for Eastbourne in the Sussex League

Brown, from Eastbourne, says his first priority will be to get his own game right.

The wicketkeeper-batsman told The Argus: “Combining all parts of my game with captaincy will be difficult but I will learn as I go.

“Last year I got runs as captain which I think is a big part of it.

“I have worked on a couple of things over the winter, especially with my wicketkeeping.

“The big thing as a captain is to do you own job well first and foremost.

“Hopefully the rest will go pretty naturally.

“I’m really excited and looking forward to it “The squad has gone in a good direction in the last few months. We have good cricketers doing their jobs.

“Hopefully it will be a case of me coming in and the team really running itself. I’ve got some ideas but we have got some momentum and we should be fine.

“On the field stuff is the obvious part people see. Off the field will be the difficult parts.

“Selection and things like that will be tricky but I’ve got to take it as I find it. I did a little bit last year and I have learnt from that.”

Brown has no doubts about what it means to captain the county.

The Argus:

Sussex under-11s in July, 2000. Back from left Michael Norris, Sam Bull, Edward Atkins, Josh Fleming, Billy Harris. Front from left Philip Smith, Amaar Khan, Will Beer (captain), Ben Brown and Luke Tomsett.

He said: “I got into the Sussex age-group team when I was 11 with Will Beer. We are still best mates now. I have a long history with the club.

“I have done bits and bobs of captaincy over the years but I think Beero did most of it in age group cricket. This will be a very different challenge.”

Brown returns to the side against Gloucestershire on Monday having missed recent games with a broken finger.

He proved his return to fitness by keeping wicket in two T20s as Sussex played a League Invitational XI at Horsham in Chris Nash’s testimonial on Wednesday.

There was also time at the crease, scoring 72 and 12 against a decent attack comprising overseas players from clubs around the south.

He said: “I was really pleased. It was so nice to be playing.

“My finger was no problem so that was a weight off my mind.

“It was nice to score some runs as well so it was a really good day – and a really good day for Nashy, who deserved it.

“It was four to six weeks recovery time for the injury. We were at four-and-a-half weeks when the last Championship match started.

“We decided to be patient. If I had got hit it could have broken and meant an operation, which would have ended my season.

“There was a natural break in the schedule which allowed us to wait a bit longer.”

The Argus:

Brown batting for Sussex

In Brown’s absence, Sussex have stuck to a target set by coach Mark Davis after their slow start to the season.

Davis called on them to win four of their current batch of six games ahead of the break for T20.

So far they have won three out of four going into the Gloucestershire tussle and then Leicestershire’s visit to Arundel.

Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire both won this week but Sussex have games in hand and a bit of momentum.

Brown will not spend too much time working out the permutations or studying the remaining fixtures.

But he said: “We are doing the right things to be up there.

“Other counties had a head start, playing against sides who are down near the bottom now.

“We now play those teams so you might expect us to catch up a bit.

“There are so many matches being played, so much that can happen, that is pointless thinking too much about it.

“If we keep winning games we will be there or thereabouts.”