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 !!!