Oxfordshire Cricket is delighted to announce that pace bowling all-rounder Oliver ‘Olly’ Offwood has been recruited into the Sussex County Cricket Club (Sussex CCC) Academy for the 2025-2026 programme. Olly now officially joins fellow Oxfordshire player, Arthur Hanson in the current Sussex CCC Academy cohort, and follows in the footsteps of recent graduates Alfie Smethurst and Julian Laird, who are both in Australia this winter to accelerate their development. Olly’s selection underscores the effectiveness of the talent development system in developing players capable of progressing into professional county Academy programmes.

Olly entered our pathway at the Under 12s age group, progressing through County Age Group Cricket since Under 13s and having also benefited from the ‘Bulls’ programme during his time that provided targeted support for state-educated players. Identified as a high-potential player at Under 13s, Olly was initially invited to the Boys Emerging Player Programme (Boys EPP) as a ‘drop-in’ player during 2023, before being fully recruited onto the programme for the 2023-2024 season. He has spent the last two years receiving time investment from Boys EPP support, alongside County Age Group Cricket. This past season, Olly represented our Boys Under 16s and the Men’s 2nd XI, whilst taking advantage of the ECB dual registration system with Sussex CCC, which allowed him to access additional playing and developmental opportunities by representing their Under 16s and 18s.

We congratulate Olly on this significant and well-deserved achievement, and we look forward to his continued growth as he takes on this exciting next step in his developmental journey.

On the news of joining the Sussex Cricket Academy, Olly said:

“I was a little shocked and totally blown away when Keith and I had the conversation about selection for the Sussex Academy. This has been a long-term ambition of mine and a major stepping stone to my goal of becoming a professional cricketer.

As the winter work approaches, I’m really excited to get cracking and put in the hard work for all the facets of my game, driving it forward for the 2026 season. The next two years are likely to be the best I will experience so far as a cricket player and I aim to use them to best fulfil my potential as a cricketer, not just how I perform on the field, but what I do off it as well. I would like to acknowledge the huge investment that Oxfordshire has put into my development. The pathway, that I have been a part of since 2020, has provided me an environment that has tested my ability with and against some brilliant players but also one where I have been able to play the sport I love with some of my best

friends. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t genuinely excited to play every game and

wear the Oxfordshire shirt with pride.

Furthermore, the EPP programme which I was a part of for the last 3 years has provided me with an environment where my super strengths have been developed and my weaknesses improved significantly too. As well as that, I was provided with a space where I could have a say in my development and discuss with the coaches where I felt I could improve.

There are so many people that I can thank for their help so far in my journey but specifically I would like to acknowledge Matt, Alan and Rupert for their help in the EPP, Sam for backing and support throughout my time at Oxfordshire and Duncan for his help in the last couple of years. Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to Keith Greenfield for the amazing opportunity.”

Matthew Barnes – Performance Director at Oxfordshire Cricket said:

“It’s always an honour to share positive news, and Olly joining the Academy with our partners, Sussex CCC is no exception. We are incredibly proud of Olly’s significant achievement that presents a wonderful opportunity for him to accelerate his potential. 

Olly’s journey is particularly inspiring for all our pathway players because it highlights exactly what is possible: with Olly progressing through our talent system whilst in the state-educated sector, before recently moving to Radley College for Sixth Form. 

We look forward to seeing Olly’s continued growth and are delighted to keep playing a part in his development via our Men’s programme in the future. On behalf of Oxfordshire Cricket I wish Olly the very best of luck with life at Sussex CCC.”

Keith Greenfield – Director of Pathways and Cricket Partnerships at Sussex Cricket said:

“I was impressed with the way Ollie worked and improved throughout last winter’s EPP training sessions up in Oxford.

Ollie continued that throughout the summer when playing in our u16s matches in the summer, he has high potential with both bat and ball, and has also shown excellent attitude and character in playing and managing his cricket.

We look forward to working further with Ollie to continue to improve his game and help him take his skills to higher levels in the year ahead.”