Luke Wells is excited about a new home season and potentially stating his England case.

But the Sussex opener – or should that now be all-rounder? – expects an air of calm to reign in the Hove changing room over the next four days.

That is how he explains the Jason Gillespie way.

Wells believes that might just get the best out of a squad keen to make a mark in what might be a more open division two than we all thought.

Sussex aim to join the six second-tier counties with a Specsavers County Championship win to their names already this year over the next four days.

They are hosting Gloucestershire from today and then tackle Middlesex from next Friday.

Wells, top run scorer in division two last season despite missing two matches, is up and running with a ton and a four-wicket haul already this year.

Others, like David Wiese and Michael Burgess, have also got off to a flyer.

Some haven’t. But Wells believes the ambience in the home set-up will give them every chance to follow suit.

Gillespie takes charge of his first home match for Sussex this weekend but Wells has spelt out the impact already made.

He told The Argus: “Jason Gillespie has brought a sense of calm.

“He is very keen to instil as much of a sense of confidence and belief as possible to all players.

“Professional sport is a cut-throat business and, of course, people need to perform.

“But you don’t want to put undue pressure on players. He allows us to trust ourselves.

“He hasn’t said anything bad about anyone to anyone.

“He builds his players up, talks about how well you have done and how well you are doing.

“He allows players a run in the team so people don’t think they are playing for their position every innings.

“Of course, players have to perform. There’s no getting around that.

“But the game is hard enough without people putting undue pressure on you.”

Warwickshire and Middlesex will be expected to challenge strongly to go up following relegation last term.

And they do indeed occupy the top two spots at the moment.

But it is close – very close. Sussex’s performance in the rain-affected draw at Edgbaston suggested they have nothing to fear.

And Middlesex’s defeat at Derby was a real turn-up.

Wells said: “I’m pretty positive. Warwickshire got relegated last year but are favourites to go up and we put in a good performance there and came away with more points than them.

“Leicester was a really attritional wicket but we stuck to our task very well with the ball and we scored runs.

“The Derby result shows how open this competition is now.

“Derbyshire now have a very good bowling attack through foreign imports.

“I think it shows the distance between division one and division two is not what most people think.

“There are a lot of strong players in division two who would perform very well in division one sides.

“Derbyshire’s side is a case in point.

“For me, there is not an obvious frontrunner at the moment.

“We have got a strong squad. The promotion spots are up for grabs.”

That will not be the talk in the Sussex changing room this morning.

Gillespie’s message is to get the basics right, think about the process and, if you do all that properly, there is a better chance that good things can happen.

England selection probably comes under the same category.

Concentrate on your own game and see what comes of it.

It could be a tall order for a second division player to make enough of an impression on selector Ed Smith.

But Wells’ 1,292 runs last year at 64.6 – with four centuries including a career best 258 – has set a standard he hopes to match over the coming months.

The Sussex opener said: “England is a huge aim of mine. Last year was not quite a breakthrough year but it was certainly my most eye-catching season.

“If I could repeat something like that and keep doing what I’ve been doing, hopefully I would be able to get my name in the right circles and progress from there.

“I’m desperate for further honours. I feel confident in my own ability to be able to play at the next level.

“You never know how you will do until you get that chance.

“But you get into those circles with good performances.”

Luke Wells can see a potential benefit of the new 100-balls competition being planned by the ECB. Wells was critical via Twitter, writing: “Why try and fix a format that’s not broken? T20 works and is a massively popular product which is growing worldwide! Trying to reinvent the wheel just doesn’t make sense.”
He told The Argus: “The one caveat is that it would not then be seen as direct competition to the current T20 but  something completely apart. But I don’t see why 20 balls makes so much difference to drawing a new audience.”