Hi everyone!
Winning
is better than Losing
But
watching a game you love trumps
everything
Michael Henderson
in The Times, September 2018
Reflections on Season 2018
The
Met Office’s statistics show that Summer 2018 was a record-breaking year, with average
temperatures in England at 17.1C slightly ahead of 1976’s 17.0C.
The
Summer of 2018 will be remembered for a six-week spell from the end of June to
the second week of August when daytime temperatures in parts of the
country consistently topped 30C.
The
chilly days of April and the occasional rained-off game (of which the Sussex Sharks
suffered 4 out of 14 in their T20 Qualification games) have long been forgotten.
It
was a really great summer for watching Cricket!!
There
were lots and lots of days up in the deckchairs up at the Cromwell Road end at
my beloved Hove.
County
games, RL50 one day games (including against Australia) and the T20 Vitality
Blast, of which more later.
There
was also the now traditional KSL Women’s Finals Day.
Of
course, there were the regular annual visits to Arundel, Beckenham and the Nevill, Tunbridge
Wells.
The Nevill
And
to Chelmsford and to Taunton.
To
Lords and the Oval for the sell-out crowds of the T20s on Thursday and Friday
evenings.
Jofra Archer hat trick to beat Middlesex
There
were enjoyable visits to new grounds: to Eastbourne and to Scarborough.
As
for Eastbourne, Alan Ross the cricket correspondent of The Observer in the 1950's and '60s wrote:
At
Eastbourne cricket is played to a background of croquet and bowls, old Colonels
and straight-backed memsahibs going about their daily ritual, indifferent to
the pock of bat on ball and the marauding seagulls.
No
too much had changed when I visited in June for the game v Essex !!
Laurie Evans on his way to a 100 at Eastbourne
As
for Scarborough, cricket at the North Marine Road Ground - within a 100 yards
of the North Sea - has always been hard
fought since Yorkshire started playing there way back in 1878.
On
the day I was there in June, Morne Morkel (the former South African fast bowler
with 300+ Test wickets) bowling for Surrey took 5 wickets for 39 runs. I
was delighted to just be watching from the boundary and not having to face him
!!
As
Tanya Aldred wrote in The Guardian:
Of
course it works best in the sun. Of course it works best when every ball is
enthralling. But to watch cricket at an outground, to sit on the worn benches
at Scarborough this week and gaze at the red-brick pavilion where so many have
unpacked their bags in hope, just a short stroll from the crashes of the North
Sea, is one of life’s pleasures.
Scarborough
As
for Sussex, it was a year of mixed fortunes with some encouraging progress under new Coach
Jason ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie.
8th
of 9 teams in the Southern division of the Royal London One-Day Cup, with 2
wins and 4 losses was an under-achievement.
By
contrast, in the T20 Vitality Blast the Sussex Sharks held their nerve to win
the last 3 qualifying games to qualify for a quarter-final which they won
against Durham.
Rashid
Khan – just 20 years old and already the World’s top ranked one day bowler – was
the stand out bowler in the qualification games with 17 wickets at 14.3 runs
and an economy rate of only 6.6 per over.
And
who knew there were so many people in Sussex who hailed from Afghanistan and
who flocked to watch their fellow countryman play!
Rashid Khan & Friends !
In
the County Championship – for an Old Boy like me the Blue Riband event - Sussex
entered the final rounds of matches fighting with eventual champions Warwickshire and the Old Foe Kent for 2 of the promotion places.
But
it was not to be. Sussex’s losses away against Middlesex and then Durham left
Warwickshire needing just a Draw at Hove to secure promotion and leave Sussex
facing another season in Division 2.
Looking across the whole season, Kent's win – by just 58 runs - against Sussex at Canterbury in May proved
crucial, with New Zealander Matt Henry taking 10 wickets in the game and
scoring a vital 50 for Kent.
Did
Sussex make progress?
Well, 3rd place was better
than 2017’s 4th.
But 2018 had both fewer points (186
v 196) and fewer wins (6 v 7).
There
was a real feeling of much-improved team spirit which bodes very well for 2019
and beyond.
The
batting averages were topped by captain Ben Brown (912 runs at 43) and David
Wiese (538 at 34). But Ben and David bat at numbers 6 and 7 respectively.
The Top 5 to me always had some fragility; for example, in the match lost against Durham
Sussex scored only 257 in the two innings combined, with a top score of only
40.
On
the other hand, Sussex gained 32 battings points – albeit 3 fewer than in 2017
- and only Warwickshire with 41 gained more.
The
3 youngsters Harry Finch, Tom Haines and Phil Salt all averaged around 30, with
plenty of promise for the many seasons ahead.
As
for Luke Wells, after his annus mirabilis in 2017 (1,292 runs at 65), 2018 was a
much more modest 607 at 26.
But
I remain a massive fan of Luke’s.
I continue
to believe that he has the potential to open for England.
This
Northern Hemisphere winter Luke will skipper Casey South Melbourne in Australia.
The next Sussex captain; well, why not?
As
for the bowlers, the Seam Attack -
Archer, Jordan, Robinson & Wiese - would have been at home in Division 1.
Jofra
Archer’s 42 wickets at 18 came from just 8 matches. I’m sure England will be looking
to see whether they can bring forward his eligibility from the Winter of 2022.
Ollie Robinson's 74 wickets at 19 were the highest number from any England eligible
bowler.
Ollie Robinson, Sussex Player of the Season
But
more than enough of statistics!!
When
I look back on Season 2018 there are 3 games I especially remember.
At
Arundel – Sunday Telegraph: one of the
most beautiful grounds in the world - for the Championship game against
Durham, a victory by an innings and 64 runs in 3 days.
On
gloriously sunny days, I was there - sitting up under the old oak tree by Jon Filby’s
bookstall – for days 2 and 3.
There
were maiden first class centuries for Tom Haines and Phil Salt.
The
former only playing because Chris Jordan had been called into the England T20
squad. Tom’s Mum had given him a lift from the Second team game at New Malden!
A game
recorded forever by Paul Edwards, my favourite cricket writer:
Then
there was T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston in Birmingham, a new ground for me.
There’s
a story to tell as to how I got the tickets for Jill & me.
In
short, my thanks to Sussex Major Sponsor Boundless!!
Sussex Squad for T20 Finals Day
Helped
by captain Luke Wright’s 92 off 53 balls, the highest individual score in Finals
Day history, Sussex beat Somerset by 35 runs in the semi-final.
Luke Wright, Sussex's Best ever T20 player
In
the Final after 14 overs Sussex were on track for 180+, but the last 6 overs
brought only 36 runs for a total of 157 (Sussex T20 batter of the season
Laurie Evans 52).
Going
into the 19th over Worcestershire needed 17 runs. But Jofra Archer
began with a 6 no-balls delivery and Ben Cox then scored 6 off the free hit. The
next ball went for 4 and Worcestershire had won with 9 balls to spare.
But indeed it is
true:
Winning
is better than Losing
But
watching a game you love trumps
everything
A day that started
with leaving home just after six in the morning and getting back just after one
the next morning – with 3 games of T20 from 11.00 to after 21.30 - will long live in the memory !
Luke Wells leading the Sussex
supporters
And so to the
Season’s end at Priory Park, Chichester, the final new ground for me.
The match was
Sussex v The Duke of Richmond’s XI to celebrate the centenary of the 7th
Duke of Richmond giving Priory Park to the people of Chichester as a perpetual
memorial to the fallen of WWI.
They’ve been
playing cricket in the Chichester area since the early 16th century.
And: NO, the Lads
& I were not there back then !
Regular games are
recorded from the early 18th century, with the earliest known ‘Articles’
of Cricket being written in 1727 for the Duke of Richmond.
The 2018 game – as all
the best games should – went to the very last ball, with the Duke’s XI 240- 8 beating Sussex 239-6.
As I sat on the
grass on the east side of the ground I poured myself a cup of coffee.
Next to me a lady
asked that most leading of all questions:
Would
I like a Marks & Spencer Iced Bun?
There’s only one
answer to that: she can definitely watch with me next Season !!!
It has been a tremendous
Season.
To all those of you
who came along to watch with me … A HUGE Thank You !
Winter well &
see you in Season 2019 !!!
After
all ….
Why read a Lord Ric Cricket Blog, when you can star in your own.
Lord Ric of Beckley Furnace
Follow me on Twitter: LordRic52
PS
Next
year is the 50th anniversary of a game I played in, in fact the first time I ever captained.
Saturday
3 May 1969: Skinners’ School away to Ravensbourne.
It
went to the very last ball …
Come
& watch cricket with me and I’ll tell you the tale
