Horsham proud of conveyor belt of Sussex talent but Thornely stresses need for 'consistent team'

The Lions’ finished fifth in 2018, as inconsistency and the departure of key players to Sussex put pay to any chances of a title-charge.

All-rounder Joe Ashmore and overseas star Mika Ekstrom have both departed Cricket Field Road, but this has been off-set by the capture of New Zealand pace bowler Jamie Brown.

Horsham have also been further boosted by the retention of Sussex stars Will Beer, George Garton and Tom Haines.

Despite keeping hold of their biggest names, Thornely believes having these prodigious talents is a double-edged sword for the club.

He said: “Numbers-wise, Horsham is up there in terms of players playing for Sussex.

“Going way back you’ve had myself, (Chris) Nash, (Andrew) Hodd, Hoppo (Carl Hopkinson), all these great players.

“It’s a tradition we’re really proud of but we’ve got to try and figure out how we can balance it with players that are going to be around more often.

“There’s no sort of middle ground. We have good adult players at the club or excellent county players.

“It doesn’t make our lives easy. A lot of other clubs seem to have regular club players playing week-in week-out.

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“If we can have a consistent team and stay tight as a group we can really challenge and make people’s lives difficult.”

Horsham last tasted Premier Division success 14 years ago, with successive third-place finishes in 2013 and 2014 remaining their highest placings since.

But the Cricket Field Road-outfit has seen a wave of exciting young talent flourish during these barren years, with the likes of Garton, Haines and Tom Clark developing into fine players.

Thornely recognised that his side have ‘not quite lived up’ to expectations and now wants the young Lions to start producing ‘match-winning performances’.

He added: “We’ve been one of the most successful clubs in Sussex over the last ten, 15 years.

“Recently we’ve not quite lived up to that but we’re always aspiring to be at the top.

“We’re looking for our young, up-and-coming players to start putting in those match-winning performances and become good club players.

“If the likes of myself, now being an older player, can help them develop that will be great.

“The club wants us to be competing for all competitions and hopefully we’ve got players that can do that.”