Hi everyone!
Heroes come
and go
But Legends are forever
Kobe Bryant
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First Blog of Season 2023 …
##SpoilerAlert ## … …
The Mighty Sussex have beaten Durham in their opening game of the County Championship!!
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Looking back over the 4 days of cricket down at Hove Actually, there were plenty of twists and turns.
I had arrived at the ground on Day 1 well ahead of 11.00 hours so that I could watch the players warm up on the outfield and see the First Ball of the Season.
Only for damp conditions mean that there was no play before lunch.
Now… I’m a Deckchair Boy; always
have been, always will be!
[Editor: who is going to ask Ol’ Ric if anyone can be a Boy when they are in their 70s …].
But on chilly Spring days I do like to
pop into the Pavilion.
More later about what I saw before
play could begin … …
When play started at about 13.30 I was safely back in position.
Multi-tasking in the Deckchairs
Sussex won the toss and put Durham in.
Durham took the initiative, scoring
at over 5 runs an over.
Having reached 142 before losing
their first wicket, they were on 213 before losing their second, when debutant
Ben McKinney was out for 39 caught Pujara bowled Crocombe.
McKinney captained England U19s in Australia earlier this year and
he looks a really good player.
Just For Information: I will be touring Western Australia this November. Though not necessarily for England U19s!!
I was nervous that Durham might
well kick on to a score well over 450.
But Sussex fought back strongly to limit Durham to 376, with debutant Australian Nathan McAndrew taking 5 for 85.
Sussex were soon in a spot of
trouble at 44 for 2.
But cometh the hour, cometh the
man.
Down the steps of the Players Pavilion came the Sussex No.4 and this Season’s Captain:
Cheteshwar Pujara
The Free Ticket scheme for Day 2: Good Friday meant there was a 2,000+ crowd to watch one of the Best Ever Sussex Cricketers.
Some people are on the pitch ...
It must be time for Softball cricket on the Outfield!!
Pujara scored what seemed like an inevitable century – his 6th in only 9 games for Sussex.
When he was out for 115, Sussex had progressed to 245 for 7.With the Numbers 6 to 9 (Carter, Garton, McAndrew and Carson) scoring 136 between them, Sussex’s 335 was 41 behind Durham.
On to Day 3; and when Durham came out for their 2nd Innings there was a first – at least for Ol’Ric !
Sussex’s George Garton had been hit on his helmet whilst scoring 28 for Sussex. The Head Injury protocols meant that the substitute Fynn Hudson-Prentice could play a full part in the rest of the game.
Up in the Deckchairs an ol’
boy was telling one of his unlikely tales about long-forgotten games.
[Editor: I think we all know who
that ol’ boy was …]
Ken Suttle is an Immortal.
He was in the Sussex XI in the
first game I ever saw. Kent v Sussex at the Nevill, Tunbridge Wells - a mere 65
Seasons ago !!
Ken played for Sussex from 1949 to 1971. His 29,375 runs is second in the all-time list.
Ken was a short man at five foot
four and stood at the wicket in stark contrast to his sometime partner, Alan ‘Oaky’
Oakman. Most of his shots were played square of the wicket and he would never
flinch.
In 1963 he was hit by Charlie
Griffith, the West Indian fast bowler, and despite losing a lot of blood,
decided to play on.
When the West Indians returned in
1966, Griffith hit Suttle again and Oaky asked Suttle if he was fine. His reply
was that he was, ‘Oh yes, he’s not as fast as he was.’
They don’t make ’em like Ken
anymore!
60 Seasons on, Fynn H-P took his opportunity
with 4 for 27.
With wicketkeeper Oli Carter taking 5 catches, Sussex limited Durham to 189 and needing 231 to win.
By the close of Day 3, Sussex (with Pujara out for 35 to a fantastic catch by Michael Jones) were 6 wickets down and needing 59 more runs to win.
On Day 4 I was back at the ground
by just after 10.30 for what promised to a short, but tense final day.
As I looked out across the ground towards the Sea End there was a sea fret, one of the trademarks of the ground which is barely ¼ mile from the Hove Lawns and the beach.
A crowd of perhaps a couple of hundred cheered on every run.
The first wicket of the morning fell at 193 when Sean Hunt was out for 14. 3 wickets left and 38 still needed.
Matthew Kuhnemann – who may be playing for Australia in the Ashes this summer - took the wickets of Hudson-Prentice for 6 and McAndrew for 1.
At 208 for 8, as Jack Carson walked to the wicket 23 were needed.
The gentleman next to me – a Sussex Fan since the days of Greigy & Snowy - told me that he was feeling nervous.
How you feeling, Ric?
I thought back to a little boy who was sitting with his Dad perhaps 10 yards from where 60+ Seasons on - & now an OAP - he was sitting …
What would Young Ric be thinking?
If they were at the wicket, what would Lord Ted & Young Jim be thinking?
Well, as the Sussex Coach Paul
Farbrace says: Season 2023 is all about #ExpectingToWin.
Helped by 7 wides and a feisty 33
from Oli Carter … suddenly it was all over.
The Mighty Sussex WIN !!
Season 2023 is in its infancy.
Time to get your diary out …
I can’t promise you a very close game, with Sussex just winning.
Though it surely will be by the time I write the Blog !!
After all ….
Why read a Lord Ric Cricket Blog, when you can star in your own.
See you soon!!
Lord
Ric of Beckley Furnace
PS
So, dear reader, if you have read this far, you
will be wondering why is the Blog is titled The Boys on the Board?
And what did I see when I popped into the Pavilion
on the morning of Day 1?
Inside the Pavilion (near the Players Dining Room)
are a number of Honours Boards.
Sussex Test cricketers, Presidents, Chairmen and … Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
Legends are forever
With a couple of hours to spare
before the cricket could start, time for my:
Selection - well it is never easy!!
And I don't suppose that "advising" Imran, Snowy & Ted will be easy for Chris Adams either !!!
You will have your own XI; of
course, you will!
Do let me know … …
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