Sussex have furloughed most of their non-playing staff.

The club say the measure has been taken to protect jobs once things return to normal after the coronavirus pandemic.

A small number of employees will carry on working to ensure the club remains operational.

The new season, which was due to start a week on Sunday, is on hold.

Sussex chief executive Rob Andrew said: “The shut-down of cricket and with it nearly all the club’s commercial activities until the end of May at the earliest means that we were faced with no alternative but to furlough as many staff as possible during this period.

“The decision has been taken with one thing in mind, which is the protection of everyone at Sussex Cricket’s jobs once we emerge from these extremely challenging times.

“I want to thank our staff for their dedication, professionalism and understanding at what has been and remains a worrying and uncertain time. We are lucky to have so many excellent people working for the club.”

Head coach Jason Gillespie and overseas player Travis Head are at home in Australia.

Stiaan van Zyl and David Wiese are currently in South Africa.

The 1st Central County Ground is closed to the public, other than for a small number of events deemed essential, and those staff still working are doing so from home where possible.