Sussex Cricket Signs Cheteshwar Pujara for 2024 Season

Cheteshwar Pujara, who has signed overseas with Daniel Hughes, will play his first seven Championship games for Sussex.

(Cricket News) During his third consecutive season with Sussex, Cheteshwar Pujara will be available for the first seven County Championship matches. Daniel Hughes, an Australian batter, will be available from the beginning of the T20 Vitality Blast until the end of the season, playing in both the Blast and County Championship.

Bowlers Jayden Seales of the West Indies and Australia’s Nathan McAndrew will also be available for the club as overseas signings for the 2024 campaign.

Pujara, an India Test batsman, has played in eight Championship matches for Sussex so far, amassing 1,863 runs at an average of 64.24, with eight hundreds and three half-centuries. In 2022, he made the highest score of 231, sharing a 351 stand with Tom Haines, who also scored a double-century.

In 2023, Pujara scored the highest score of 151 against Gloucestershire, a knock that included twenty fours and two sixes. “I have enjoyed my time at Hove the last couple of seasons and could not be more delighted to be back again with the Sussex family,” Pujara stated in released.

“I am delighted that Cheteshwar is returning to Hove again for the first two months of the season,” said Paul Farbrace, head coach of Sussex. “His experience and calmness in matches is a fantastic asset for our team.”

Hughes, an aggressive top-order batter with the NSW Blues and Sydney Sixers, turns 35 in February. He averages 36.90 in first-class cricket and has amassed 26 half-centuries and eight centuries in 137 innings. In 2019–20, Hughes won his second Steve Waugh Medal, having won his first in 2017–18. He also won the NSW Blues Marsh One-Day Cup Player of the Season.

“Playing county cricket has been a long-held ambition for me,” Hughes said. “I am delighted to get that opportunity at Sussex. The plans that exist for team are exciting and I look forward to getting to Hove and helping Sussex with success along the way.”

Farbrace described Hughes as “a top-class player” with vast experience. “We are all very much looking forward to working him and enjoying how he helps our team on and off the field,” he said. Hughes has amassed 2,204 runs in 93 innings at a strike rate of 120.89 while playing Twenty20 cricket.

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