Plus ça change ...

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Les Guêpes by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr 

55 years on from my First Ever Visit who’d have guessed that just after 17.30 on Friday the Good Mrs Piper, Lady Lambourne and I would be walking round from Chatsworth Square to the Ground.

We walked past The Palmeira; not even a suggestion that there was time for a pint of Harveys!!

Never mind a second one !!!

We were soon seated in the front row at the Cromwell Road end; where else?

Dianne’s First Ever Visit to the Ground.

In fact, 35 years and more after we met, her First Ever Game of Cricket.

England Women v Australia Women in a T20.

As I sat looking out across the ground it was hard to know where to start by way of introduction.

I pointed out the Pavilion Steps which the players used to walk down.

From where - long before my time – CB Fry, Ranji, Duleep, Maurice Tate & The Don had walked on to the ground.

Where - on that Saturday morning long ago – Lord Ted strode down to take on Fred Trueman.

And Snow, Greig, Imran Khan and all the other Legends had played.

The Committee Room: where I had lunched with Young Jim and watched Sussex play Hampshire on that never-to-be-forgotten day.

On we went:  round past the Herbal Life stand and the Media Centre.

And the Synagogue: the only professional cricket ground in the world to be overlooked by one.

Past the Boundary Rooms, we paused at the Scoreboard.

Full of information; and Duckworth-Lewis scores !!

We’ll come back to it; once the game starts, I said, for D-L is never to be explained ... ...

England won the toss and put the Aussies in.

45 for 3 after 10 overs, Australia pushed on to 107 for 7 after 20 overs, with three players, including the captain, Meg Lanning, each scoring 21.

Chasing what should have been a very attainable target of 108, England’s batting once again failed miserably.

10 for 3 became 28 for 5.

All out for 87, England lost by 20 runs. Lydia Greenway, from Bromley, top scored with 26.

It was England’s ninth loss in 12 games against Australia.

The frailty in their batting led to them losing the Ashes

As I sat watching, I wondered Dad would have made of it?

   Women professional cricketers?

   T20?

   Under the floodlights ?

None were around when he watched.

Truly: plus ça change …

But I'm sure he'd had entered into the spirit of the evening.
He’d definitely have been really pleased to see a Sell Out crowd, plenty of whom were making their own First Ever Visit.

And he’d have been delighted that: plus c'est la même chose.

(Editor: dear reader, please be re-assured. The Tomatoes are #JustThereForDecoration !!)

Season 2015 is coming to a close.

Struggling to avoid relegation from Division One, Sussex are in a Must Win (& Absolutely Do Not Lose) game against Worcestershire at Worcester starting on 1 September.

The last game at Hove is against Somerset.

 *** Why not come along on Monday or Tuesday 14 & 15 September?

Why read a Lord Ric Cricket Blog, when you can be in one. ^©

See you soon !!

Lord Ric of Beckley Furnace

PS

For those of you, like me, who are not too familiar with the work of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, I’ll end with another of his bon mots:

If men knew all that women think, they would be twenty times more audacious.

I’ll leave the Bickley Ladies Book Club to discuss that one at their upcoming weekend away in Norfolk !!!

The Last Match; and the First.

This is about cricket, but it is also about life

The Last Match by Colin Philpott & Kit Monkman

55 years on from my First Ever Visit who’d have guessed that after Stumps on Day 2  of Sussex v Yorkshire I would be making my way to the Boundary Rooms at the sea end of the ground to see The Last Match?

The Last Match tells the story of the 1939 match between Sussex and Yorkshire played Hove on the day Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain responded and war was declared.

Whilst other county matches were abandoned, the Sussex and Yorkshire teams refused to stop play – Young Jim’s dad was having his Benefit Match !! -  and in a game of high drama, Yorkshire triumphed over Sussex.

The play’s central character is bowling legend, Hedley Verity who played his last ever first-class match that day, taking 7 wickets for just 9 runs.

Four years later he died of his wounds after fighting in Sicily.

Sussex v Yorkshire, always a keenly anticipated game.

Of course, way back in May 1960 it was the very first game I ever saw at Hove. 
You know the story: Lord Ted whacking Fred Trueman to all parts of the ground for his 96.

But there were a couple of Legends at the ground in August 2015.

Heavy Sunday morning rain, which prevented any play until after lunch, meant that there were fewer than 1,000 spectators in the ground on the third day, as opposed to the 3,500 who attended on Friday and the near-2,000 who turned up for the second day.

Yet the sun was shining again by the time Mike Yardy - in his penultimate championship appearance at Hove, having announced that he will retire at the age of 34 at the end of the season - made 124, his 22^nd first-class hundred.  

He is the last survivor of Sussex’s historic 2003 championship triumph, a club captain for four seasons, and the winner of seven domestic trophies and a Twenty20 World Cup winner in 2010.

He will be missed.

But what of the other Legend?

His career stretches way back to the 1960s.

They still talk about the three catches he dropped off my bowling at Sanderstead one Saturday afternoon long, long ago !

And he still reminds me of the day I got out (bowled playing my trade mark shot: whipping the ball from off stump through midwicket) in the last game we ever played together !!

These days he’s very much the Senior Professional, playing his cricket in New Zealand, including for the NZ Over 60’s.

It was Gideon Haigh who wrote in The Times a few weeks ago that Form is temporary, Class is permanent & Legend … well, that’s indestructible.

There’s only one Young Man to me.

Watching our beloved Sussex play, sitting together in the sunshine at the Cromwell Road end ... it just doesn't get any better !

It been great to watch cricket with you at the Nevill, with Bishopp, Chris Vickery and all the Boys.

Come back soon, Pete !!

We’re into the final few weeks of the Season.

Some tremendous days out:

At Lords for day one of the Ashes v the Aussies.

Amazing results across the five Tests, with the pendulum swinging from one game to the next.

At the Nevill; just wonderful to see such good crowds, especially as it was rumoured that Kent wouldn’t be playing there this year.

And plenty more besides; the Ageas Bowl, Arundel and the rest.

Another really enjoyable season !!

As we head into September, Sussex are fighting relegation from Division One… so fingers crossed for some good results, especially against fellow strugglers Somerset & Worcestershire.

We started with The Last Match.

So let’s finish with the First.

This Friday I will be attending my first Women’s Test match: England v Australia in a T20 under the floodlights at Hove.

I'm delighted that Mrs Lambourne will be coming along.

(Editor: so that’s the Picnic sorted!!)

But there’s another guest …

We first met over 35 years ago.

How many cricket picnics has she packed for me over all those years?

But she’s never, ever been to a game.

This Friday that all changes…

Welcome to the County Ground, Mrs P !!

Why read a Lord Ric Cricket Blog, when you can be in one. ^©

See you soon !!

Lord Ric of Beckley Furnace