Hi everyone!
There’s been plenty of discussions in recent weeks about …
Do Modern Day cricketers play too much
cricket ?
County players want less cricket
Michael Atherton, Chief Cricket Correspondent of The Times
Wednesday 8th May 2024
The recent consultation by the Professional
Cricketers’ Association produced some unsurprising results:
two thirds thought they
played too much;
a similar number thought the schedule was not conducive to high
performance;
80% had concerns about the physical strains they were placed under
during the season;
75% feared for their safety driving late at night from match to match; and
60% thought the schedule was likely to have an impact on
their mental health.
From Up in the Deckchairs at Hove Actually, Ol’ Ric reports on the views of two Sussex Legends.
But who are they?
Clue:
One is 2nd on the List of Most Runs for
Sussex in a career with 29,375
And the other is 3rd in the List with 29,138
Please enjoy:
When Yorkshire are the visitors down at Hove Actually it is so often a game of high drama.
A mere 85 Seasons ago in September 1939 - as the lights were beginning to be dimmed across the Free World - Fred & Jack were at the game:
https://lord-ric.blogspot.com/2023/04/plus-ca-change-rodney.html
And, of course, in May 1960 for one 7 year old little boy it was his First Ever day at Hove Actually:
https://lord-ric.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-tale-of-two-lords-captain-young-boy.html
You didn’t need to look at the scoreboard to know when Lord Ted
was batting,”
one old-timer told his pals.
“You didn’t need to open your eyes. You could tell it was Dexter by the sound of his bat on the ball. Like a rifle crack, it was.”
64 Seasons later, and now an OAP in his (early !!) 70s, I was back for this week’s game v Yorkshire.
On Day 1: Friday I was delighted to
be joined by 8 friends who between them support Essex, Gloucestershire, Kent
and Sussex.
Plus … a naturalised Czech who supports Yorkshire!
Yorkshire won the toss and opted to bowl.
Sussex lost their first wicket at
42 and fairly regularly thereafter.
All out for 150, with James Coles top scoring with 38.
For Yorkshire George Hill took 4 for 22 and Ben Coad 3 for 37.
Yorkshire replied with 195, with Sean Hunt taking 4 for 64 & Ollie Robinson 3 for 25.
Former England Captain Joe Root’s
67 was the standout score.
With 140 Tests and 11,736 runs at 50, not surprisingly in this
game he looked a division above the other players. (OK; Mr Pujara has played in
103 Tests with 7,195 runs at 43.)
I had a tinge of disappointment
when he was LBW to Tom Haines.
Oh to have seen him score a century.
But a couple of minutes later… Mr Root showed what a Legend he is.
As he began to walk up the steps to
the Players Pavilion, two little children asked for his autograph.
Who could have blamed him – still disappointed at being out - if he had declined.
But that’s not what Legends do.
Mr Root signed for both children !!
With a First Innings deficit of 45,
Sussex were soon in trouble at 6 for 2.
But a top quality innings of 86
from Tom Alsop - and scores in the 20 s and 30s from Mr Pujara (Will this be
the last time we see him bat at Hove Actually ? Hope not !!), Tom Coles and
Jack Carson - got Sussex to 227, 182
runs ahead.
Having watched on Days 1 and 2, it was going to take Something Special to keep me away from watching Day 3.
And that Something Special turned out to be Dianne’s Birthday Lunch !!
I did manage to listen to the ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Sussex Sport until the lunch interval.
But thereafter it was the occasion
peak on my mobile at the BBC Sports website.
Yorkshire lost wickets fairly regularly.
When Joe Root was LBW to Danny Lamb
for only 10, it was 44 for 3.
The score progressed agonisingly to 121 for 6 as Johnathan Tattersall was out for 18 bowled by Sean Hunt.
At 158 for 6 Yorkshire needed only 25 runs to win.
But with Adam Lyth on 73 he was caught
John Simpson bowled Ollie Robinson who then took the wickets of Jordan Thompson
and Dom Leech, both for ducks.
Ollie’s match analysis was 7 for 67.
A wonderful direct throw by Fynn Hudson-Prentice took the final wicket of Ben Coad; run out, also for no score.
The final 4 wickets had gone for just 3 runs.
And Yorkshire had lost by 21 runs.
As I always want to write in a Lord Ric Blog:
Sussex Win Thriller !
After 3 victories in 6 games, Sussex are 7 points clear at the top of the table.
The next game is against 2nd place
Middlesex at Lords’.
Get the Deckchairs ready !!
They do have Deckchairs at Lord’s … surely they must do !!
---
When guests come to watch with me at Hove Actually I like to take them to the Cricket Museum.
At Lunch on Day 1 I was joined by Chris (Kent; grew up overlooking the Mote Ground at Maidstone) and George (Yorkshire; by way of the Czech Republic. Long story !!).
In the Museum there is a new exhibition of photos from
Arthur Smallwood.
The wonderful photos are of players
from the 1960s & 1970s.
I pointed out the two photos hanging next to each
other.
The left hand photo is Mike
Griffith, who was Sussex Captain from 1968 to 1972.
A Cambridge blue at Cricket, Hockey
and Racquets, he would become President of the MCC, where his father Bill - himself
a Sussex Captain and Secretary and England Test cricketer - was Secretary;
modern day CEO.
As evidence of the importance of families in cricket, Billy
Mead has played by one First Class game, a game in which he scored a century.
Billy’s great-grandfather is Billy Griffith and his great-uncle is Mike.
The right hand photo is Ken Suttle who played for Sussex from 1949 to 1971.
Ken is 2nd on the List of Most Runs for Sussex in a career with 29,375.
He is – of course – A Hove Immortal, who played against Yorkshire in May 1960, the first game I ever watched at Hove.
I like to think that The Museum Curator knowingly placed the two photos right next to each other.
For …
In 1969 when Mike Griffith telephoned Ken to tell him
that, after 423 consecutive County Championship games, he would be omitted from
the side to play Surrey at the Oval early in August, the news was not well
received.
Griffith reported:
"Christ, he wanted to know why 10 other buggers hadn't been left out before him."
Later that month Ken underlined his point with a century against Middlesex.
What would Ken have made of the Professional
Cricketers’ Association results, including:
two thirds thought they played too much.
I will leave you to fill in the Expletives !!!
---
Season 2024 is still in its infancy.
Time to get your diary out …
How about a day with me at Hove Actually ?
After all…
Nobody ever looked back over their Life
And wished they had spent less time Watching from the Deckchairs
I can’t promise you a very close game, with Sussex just winning a thriller.
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
Dozing up in
the Deckchairs
PS
So, Ol’ Ric, what about the views of the Sussex Legend who is 3rd on the List of Most Runs for Sussex with 29,138 ?
Well, before I answer that question, I need to tell you about the first game Will Hugall watched at Hove Actually and his favourite cricketer.
Will is starting out on his career as a sports journalist. His daily Match Reports are really, really good.
Do follow him on Twitter: @WillHugall
Will’s first game was Sussex v
Yorkshire in 2015.
By co-incidence the same opponents as in my first game; albeit mine was 55 Seasons earlier !!
Will’s favourite cricketer is Ollie
Robinson, who did so well in this week’s game.
Let’s take a look at the Sussex XI v Yorkshire back in 2015, 9 years ago:
Of the XI in that game… only Ollie Robinson is still playing for Sussex.
Professional sportsmen – dare I say ... like those of us in our 70s – know all too well about the Clock of Life:
The Clock of Life is wound but
once,
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.
The present only is our own,
So live, love, toil with a will,
Place no faith in "Tomorrow,"
For the Clock may then be still.
Robert H. Smith
Which brings me back to the views of the Sussex Legend who is 3rd on the List.
When I tell you that he is my Favourite Cricketer … There are absolutely no prizes for guessing who he is !!!!
Young Jim’s views about playing cricket are beautifully put in the final words of Young Jim, his authorised biography:
We all loved the game.
It was great to keep playing.
After all, wasn't that the point ?
So much for two thirds thought they played too much ... !!
FWIW… I do wonder if Modern Day players don’t think more like Young Jim than the PCA Survey reported.
The day after this week’s game Fynn Hudson-Prentice
tweeted his reaction:
" It was loads of fun"
Fynn is one of my favourite current Sussex players.
With his Mum, he first played
Softball cricket on the Outfield in the Tea interval right by the scoreboard up
at the Cromwell Road end.
Softball Cricket on the Outfield in the Tea interval, eh …
I told you you’d enjoy your visit
to Hove Actually.
Do come along !
I’ve saved a
Deckchair for YOU !!
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