James Kirtley said Sussex were “slow out of the blocks” as they lost their Vitality Blast semi-final.

Sharks went down by 21 runs to Kent at Edgbaston.

They will now plan for life without Phil Salt and Chris Jordan, who are leaving the club.

 

Sussex’s season ends with a wooden spoon decider at home to Derbyshire in the Championship, although that will involve very few of the players on view today.

T20 coach Kirtley told The Argus: “We looked a little slow out of the blocks for me.

“Usually we are in better control of the power-play and we weren’t today.

“And, with the bat, we weren’t clinical enough to get that type of innings we would need from one of our top three or four in the way Kent got it from DBD (Daniel Bell-Drummond).”

Kirtley expects plenty of planning to follow in terms of recruitment and player development.

He added: "We need to look at the squad as a whole - properly.

“They are two big gaps to fill.

“A batter-keeper, there are not many of those who become available.

"And someone with the skills that CJ has, mainly with the ball but we can see how dangerous he is with the bat.

"They are hard people to replace.

SUSSEX SHARKS LOSE TO KENT IN VITALITY BLAST

"I guess it’s looking at trying to find the balance from your English-qualified players and then look. We've got overseas options.

"We will delve into that in good detail.

"We will get over this weekend, we’ve got a game against Derby next week and we will give that some good attention."