Sussex confirm five more exits as Hughes departs after strong 2026

Sussex have confirmed five more players will leave at the end of the 2026 season, with Australian batter Daniel Hughes the headline exit. The club announced the departures on 1 October. BBC Sport

Hughes, 37, has spent the past three seasons at Hove as an overseas player, a county signing brought in from abroad. He finished 2026 as Sussex's leading run-scorer in the County Championship, the four-day first-class competition for English and Welsh counties. That is a heavy exit list. The runs will be hard to replace.

Brad Currie, Harrison Ward, Troy Henry and Nantes Oosthuizen will also depart once the season is complete. Sussex have not yet detailed where the five will play next. The news was confirmed in the club's end-of-season update, titled 'Sussex Cricket confirm player departures'.

The five follow a string of earlier exits. Wicketkeeper John Simpson has signed for Nottinghamshire. Seamer Henry Crocombe is joining Surrey. Fynn Hudson-Prentice is moving to Hampshire. Tom Alsop is moving to Gloucestershire and George Thomas to Worcestershire.

That makes ten departures in all from the 2026 squad. The turnover comes with money tight. Continuing budget cuts have been reported as the context for the latest decisions. Eastbourne Herald

On the field, Sussex finished third in Division One, the top tier of the Championship. They did so despite starting the season on minus 12 points after a deduction for financial issues. A top-three finish from that position took a strong summer.

There will also be change in the dugout. Paul Farbrace is stepping down as head coach and will become the club's director of cricket from November. The club published full details on its official news page. Sussex Cricket

For supporters, this means a very different squad next spring. Sussex kept pace with the best red-ball sides in 2026. Keeping that momentum with so many new faces will test the club's recruitment and its young players.