Captain Luke Wright wants Sussex to win promotion with a smile on their faces.

Wright will lead the county for the first time in the Championship tomorrow as they launch their division two campaign at Northamptonshire.

The former England international is hoping to bring the good times back to Hove after taking over as skipper from Ed Joyce in the wake of relegation last season.

And he believes that making the game fun again is the best way to get the most out of his squad as they attempt to live up to their billing as favourites for the title.

Wright said: “I am someone who is of the opinion that you have got to enjoy your cricket. The more you enjoy it the more you are going to want to be at the ground with your mates and the more you are going to want to train at those times when you need to put the hours in to improve.

“When you are not enjoying yourself and hate being around you try to stay away from the ground as much as possible. We just want to have fun and if you are doing everything right physically that allows you to go out and enjoy your game.”

There weren’t too many smiles to be seen at Hove last year as a Sussex side crippled by injuries in the seam bowling department surrendered their division one status and failed to win a game in the 50-over competition.

The only relief came in the NatWest T20 Blast where Wright highlighted his captaincy credentials by leading the Sharks to the quarter-finals only to be blown away by a David Willey-inspired Northamptonshire.

The last time Sussex dropped into division two in 2010 they bounced back immediately and the bookies have made them hot favourites to repeat the feat despite the fact only one team will go up this season.

Wright added: “It doesn’t worry me that we are favourites. I would rather we were favourites than underdogs as it shows we have a good team but it doesn’t guarantee us anything.

“I have no doubts that if we had kept the squad fit last year then we would have stayed up and I think that only two things can cost us this season – complacency and injuries.

“We are already a bowler down in Hobsy (Matt Hobden) and while CJ (Chris Jordan) is away we have not got loads of depth so we are only a few injuries away from needing some more. We’ve got some good guys coming through but it’s not going to be a doddle.”

While going straight back up is the goal Wright insists that putting the foundations in place for sustainable success is the ultimate aim, even if it means spending longer in division two.

“Of course we want to go up but if we were still doing some of the things we were doing last year and not making the improvement I want then I would be pretty disappointed,” added Wright.

“As a whole we have moved forward enough over the last few years. We’ve got a young squad now which is nice and they have a chance to take this club forward.

“I’ve said to them don’t just plan for this year. We’ve got to plan to be going out and playing all the top teams like Yorrkshire. It is not about being the best in division two but being good enough for the top division.”