MARK DAVIS is confident Sussex will be fit and firing for their first competitive game of the season.

A patched up team missing wicketkeeper Ben Brown and seamer Jofra Archer through injury were thumped by 100 runs by Somerset in a 50-over friendly at Hove yesterday.

Brown was forced to sit out the match after being struck on the head while batting in the warm-up game against Surrey last week with Sussex drafting in former Leicestershire wicketkeeper Michael Burgess to fill in behind the stumps.

Sussex are already without batsman Matt Machan for the opening Championship game against Kent at Hove on April 14 due to a wrist injury while Luke Wells is a major doubt with a knee problem.

Coach Davis said: “We’ve got a few niggles so we haven’t been able to play a full team but you’d rather have them at this stage than when the season starts properly.

“Ben is fine but the rules regarding concussion means he has to rest for a period of time. Jofra has a sore ankle but it is nothing serious and we are just being cautious with him more than anything else.

“We’ve had to put in a few academy players to make up the numbers but results don’t matter in pre-season. The important thing is that we are out playing on grass and we’ve seen some good performances from the likes of Harry Finch and Delray Rawlins.”

Danny Briggs was the standout player for Sussex yesterday as the former England spinner took two wickets and then added an unbeaten 52 to prevent an even heavier defeat against Somerset. Will Beer also picked up three wickets as Somerset scored a mammoth total of 359-8 while there were two wickets for Ollie Robinson and one for academy player Ben Twine.