Hi everyone!
Football World Cup, 1966
As August had slipped into September I’d felt the first hint of chill on
my early morning walks with Mylo.
Although Season 2019 was coming towards its end, the Fixtures still had
a handful of games left for me to watch.
But suddenly … It was all over!
Sussex lost their home T20 Quarter Final against Worcestershire.
So this year there
would be no T20 Finals Day for The Mighty Sharks.
I managed to muddle up the location of the Essex v Warwickshire County
Championship.
I could have gone to
Chelmsford (where I thought the game was) but not to Edgbaston, near Birmingham
(where the game actually was).
There was a day in the diary for Middlesex v Durham at Lords .
But it had to be cancelled
when my two chums had a business meeting they needed to attend.
And, of course, I won’t be available for Sussex’s final home game of the
season v Worcestershire which starts on 23rd September.
That’s the day I fly
to Italy to walk the Way of St Francis: Florence – Assisi – Rome.
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So after 38 days of watching, including 23 at my beloved Hove, what do I make of it all?
Perhaps it wasn’t a vintage season for Sussex.
A certain fragility in the Top 5 batsman remains an issue.
In the Royal London One-Day Cup 4 wins & 4 losses meant 5th
place in the Southern division.
Losses in the last 3 games against Hampshire, Gloucestershire and Glamorgan
meant there was no progress beyond the qualification round.
In Vitality Blast T20 the Sharks came top of the Southern division, with sell out crowds on all the Friday evening games under the floodlights.
In the Quarter Final at Hove they came up against Worcestershire.
A couple of dropped catches - a
crucial one when he was on 5 - allowed Moen Ali to score a brilliant 121 not
out to take the Worcestershire Rapids through to Finals Day.
In the County Championship Sussex currently lie 6th.
As I write this, it is very tight from 3rd down to 7th.
With 3 teams getting promotion and 3 games remaining….
3 wins for Sussex and
next season we are back in Division 1!
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A HUGE thank you to everyone who watched with me this season.
Perhaps it was at Beckenham for a Kent game.
Or the always-looked-forward-to game at the Nevill, Tunbridge Wells.
Watching from the
Railway End , with memories of watching there now going back over 60 years.
Former Sussex players : Chris Nash (now Nottinghamshire) & Ollie Rayner (on loan to Kent)
Or to the Oval for one of the big Thursday night T20 Games under the
floodlights.
Or at Taunton, for now traditional Sunday annual trip to the Wild West.
Or for a first visit to Uxbridge, in North West London, on a gloriously
sunny Saturday afternoon.
There were the very, very kind invites for me to watch at Lords (to see England
in the World Cup) and to Edgbaston (for England v Australia in The Ashes).
And in Sussex…
To the Saffrons at Eastbourne – that most quintessential of English seaside towns - for
cricket on a Sunday afternoon.
To Arundel, sitting out on the boundary on a sunny day…
Wondering just where
Life had gone wrong !!!
And – of course – to Hove.
In the County games,
watching from a deckchair up at the Cromwell Road end.
And in the T20,
watching from the CanCom verandah. The best office in world cricket!!
This year I was joined by those making their first ever first to Hove Actually;
and by a great friend with whom I first watched with over 50 years ago.
All Welcome!!
My thanks too to all those I chatted to during the games.
To the man who runs
the bookstall at Hove, who at Arundel even let me try to sell a book!
To the man in the Cricket Museum, with his ever changing exhibits and wonderful booklets on Sussex
legends.
And to the unnamed
spectators who chatted so amiably.
Best bookstall in world cricket
And if I had only the one memory from this year?
Well, at the County game at Hove v Northamptonshire I saw a couple walking by the scoreboard on the Palmeira Avenue side of the ground.
They walked round towards the sight screen and stopped to watch the game.
It’s over 80 years since the gentleman first watched cricket at Hove.
Not too far off 50 seasons since he last played for Sussex.
He turns 88 this October.
To see my Favourite Player looking so well and watching so intently was
a tremendous feeling!
Mrs Parks & Young Jim
So that’s pretty much it from me for Season 2019.
Do Winter Well and look out for the Fixtures for 2020.
I really, really hope that you’ll come along and watch with me next season.
After
all ….
Why read a Lord Ric Cricket Blog, when you can star in your own.
See you soon!!
Lord Ric of Beckley Furnace
Follow me on Twitter: LordRic52
PS
2020 is a decennial year.
And it brings four decennial anniversaries.
There’ll be blogs on a 40th, on a 50th and on a 60th.
And - for the very first time – there’ll be one celebrating a 100th
anniversary.
On 10th January, I’ll be celebrating with lunch.
Only one restaurant in the world to go to that day …
A little clue:
