Sussex are re-thinking their strategy and batting order as they prepare to face Twenty20 heavyweights Surrey at a sold-out County Ground tonight (7.30pm).

The Sharks are still very much in the mix to qualify from the south group after a win and defeat so far.

But in the wake of Wednesday night's 87-run hammering by Essex at Chelmsford, cricket manager Mark Robinson and skipper Chris Adams met yesterday to try to find the winning formula.

Top of the agenda is moving powerful hitters such as Luke Wright and Yasir Arafat further up the batting order and possibly getting Carl Hopkinson to open with Matt Prior.

Robinson said: "It's not the end of the world. We've won one and lost one so we are still very much in the race to get through.

"I'm not sure we have got our batting order right. What we have learned from the first two games is that Luke and Yasir can strike a mean ball almost straight away.

"Others need time to play themselves in so it's a case of getting the balance of the batting order right.

"We will have a little re-think and look at changing the strategy, batting order and possibly the personnel."

Robinson says he is happy with the way Sussex have bowled so far.

Mushtaq Ahmed has already picked up six wickets while the seamers, in particular Luke Wright, have done a good containing job.

The Sharks will have their work cut out against a Surrey side with two big wins so far and an unbeaten record in Twenty20 on their trips to Hove.

At Lord's on Tuesday, Ali Brown hit one six over the Mound Stand and out of the ground on his way to 83 off just 38 balls while opening partner James Benning thrashed 88 off 54 deliveries in the 107-runs demolition of Kent on Wednesday.

Getting those two out early could make all the difference to Sussex's chances.

"We're going to have 6,000 in the ground which will create a fantastic atmosphere and a great occasion," added Robinson.

"I'm looking to us to see if we can do what Essex did to us on Wednesday. They were beaten badly in their first game and they bounced back at us really hard.

"Surrey will be tough but there's no reason why we can't put in a strong performance and get a result."