Sussex No.1 Ritchie Venner will play at the All-Sussex senior championships at the King Alfred Leisure on March 1.

The county champion will be bidding for his ninth Sussex crown, equalling the record set by Brighton's Roger Chandler a decade ago.

The English senior championships take place at the same time in Sheffield and Venner said: "It is an awkward clash but I feel I must stay loyal to Sussex and also go for the Chandler record."

Venner, 35, currently plays for Darlington in the premier division of the British League and is in good form. He recently beat London Progress player Chris Sladden, ranked No.13 on the England list, four places above him.

That win suggests if Venner played in the English Championships at Sheffield he could bring down some huge scalps that would lift his present England ranking at No.17.

The four Horsham players who were playing last season in the British League premier division are now all with other clubs.

Venner appears for Darlington, Adrian Moore for Tunbridge Wells, Nigel Eckersley for Reading and England junior No. 5 Dominic Hall is playing in Germany.

Hall was left out of the England team of 14 juniors who played in the Portuguese Youth Open in Lisbon last week.

He is making good progress, but is now in his final season as a junior and England's selectors are giving priority to younger players.