I couldn’t care less about Statistics

 

Hi everyone!

Some thoughts from Up in the Deckchairs

on

Season 2025

Up in the Deckchairs we’ve long known that when telling ( yet again !! ) Top Tales

Never let the Facts

Get in the way of

What Really Happened

Please enjoy:

I couldn’t care less about Statistics

I couldn’t care less about Statistics.

It's all about Team Success.

Karl-Anthony ('KAT') Towns

KAT is a 5-time NBA All-Star, a 3-time All-NBA Team member, and the first center to win the NBA Three-Point Contest.

---

Looking back over Season 2025, what wonderful weather we have had.

Scarcely any substantial amount of time lost to bad weather at Hove until the final game of the season v Yorkshire. Of which  more later.

Looking at my Fixtures there were 20 days of cricket.

Due mainly to being on holiday in Canada for most of July and early August, rather fewer  than the 30+ days of recent years.

Of the 20 days, 15 were Up in the Deckchairs at Hove, with 4 days out on those much-loved annual trips to Beckenham, Chelmsford, Lord's and the Oval.

Plus, a hugely enjoyable afternoon watching Brighton Aldridge Cricket Academy at home versus the Sussex Martlets.

---

Of course, watching cricket is very much about those you are watching with.

My thanks to both those who invited me to be their guest and to those who joined me at Hove and at Lord’s.

The gentleman in the photo is Chris Potter, for many years the Master in Charge of Cricket at Wellington College, where the pavilion is named in his honour.

It was a privilege to meet and chat with Chris in early September during the Championship match v Hampshire.

Chris knew well David Mordaunt, who was also the Master in Charge of Cricket at Wellington College.

65 seasons ago in the very first game I ever watched from the Deckchairs at Hove, David was playing for the Mighty Sussex.

Not out 52 in the 1^st  innings.

DNB in the 2^nd.

Truly; We are all connected !!

--- 

As we will see, Season 2025 was a strong one for Sussex.

But every Season inevitably has its disappointments …

Due to being away on a family holiday in Suffolk, I wasn’t able to get to Arundel for the One Day Cup game v Kent.

What a game it was !

In front of a full house, the Old Rivals scored 287 for 9 in their 50 overs.

 

Love Outground Cricket

e-following the game from Suffolk, even I began to fear the worst when the 7^th Sussex wicket fell at 200, with 88 still needed for victory.

Of course, I didn’t need to worry.

No further wickets were lost, with 50 not out (five fours and a six) from Jack Carson and 45 not out (six fours and a six) from Archie Lenham seeing the Mighty Sussex home against the Old Rivals with 10 balls to spare !

#NeverInDoubt !!!

At the end of September Sussex announced that several players were being released.

Including Archie Lenham & Bertie Foreman, whose grandfathers I had seen play for Sussex.

Professional cricket can be a cruel mistress.

I hope that Archie & Bertie  - both of whom have played for England U-19s - find other clubs

I mentioned bad weather in the game v Yorkshire.

This meant I wasn’t able to watch with Pete, an old friend over in the UK from New Zealand, who I first watched cricket with over 60 years ago.

Nor with my grandson Joseph, at what would have been his first game of cricket at Hove.

v Yorkshire, the same opponents as it had been in my first ever visit to the Deckchairs back in May 1960 !

Next Season, Young JJ … Grandad Ric promises !!

---

So what of Sussex in 2025 ?

In the One Day Cup 4 wins & 4 losses meant it was mid table.

 

With a fairly similar performance in the T20 Vitality Blast, with 6 wins & 7 losses leading to 6^th place.

I especially enjoyed my first T20 Double- Header games – a women’s game followed by a men’s game on the same afternoon – at both Hove & the Oval.

More please in 2026 !

 ---

But as for most Ol’ Boys like me, the blue ribbon event is the County Championship.

After 9 long years in Division 2, at the end of 2024 Sussex were promoted as Champions back to Division 1.

As the Season started there was plenty of chatter Up in the Deckchairs and online …

Where would Sussex finish the Season ?

Would they survive ?

As always, it was useful to see what the Bookies thought:

 

·         Surrey to win, as they had in the three previous seasons

·        Worcestershire to be relegated, with Nottinghamshire and the two promoted Counties Sussex and Yorkshire in the other relegation place

For all those of us  - and frankly who doesn’t ? - who love a Stat, I will be showing you the Correlation between the Bookies’ Prediction and the Final Positions.

Just for Fun:

How close do You think the Predicted was with the Final ?

Whilst you are running your slide rule over the numbers, first let’s look at a few individual performances.

On Batting, Sussex scored 20 bonus points.

Only Hampshire and Worcestershire with 12 each scored fewer.

However,  James Coles, Tom Haines and skipper John Simpson had excellent seasons:

	Runs	Average
John Simpson	1,086	60
James Coles	1,032	47
Tom Haines	843	37

Both Mr Coles and Mr Simpson were in Wisden's County championship Team of the Season, with Sussex the only County to have more than one player selected !

With a season’s record in all First Class games of 1,075 at an average of 41, Mr Haines was selected for the England Lions who will tour Australia during the Northern Hemisphere winter.

Since leaving Middlesex to join Sussex for the start of Season 2024, it has been two Anni Miraculosi for the Skipper:

What a tremendous recruitment Simmo has been !!

[ Editor: Ol’ Ric must have accidentally forgotten to compare Mr Simpson’s Sussex average of 67.1 with that of Young Jim’s 36,673 First Class runs at 34.8 !!]

Daniel Hughes scored 815 runs at 35 and there were ‘quieter’  Seasons for Tom Alsop and Tom Clark with averages 26 and 23 respectively.

Turning to the Bowling, Sussex scored 40 bonus points, more than any other County.

The bowling attack was led by Ollie Robinson who  - in an injury affected season – in 10 games took 39 wickets at an average of 25.

Overseas player Jaydev Unadkat in just 3 games took 16 wickets at 17.

Though injured for much of 2025, the two younger fast bowlers Henry Crocombe  and Sean Hunt took 23 wickets in the 7 games they played.

The two main Allrounders – Jack Carson and Fynn Hudson Prentice - both had decent Seasons.

Perhaps, like me,  you may be somewhat surprised who scored more runs and took more wickets and had the better average …

	Batting		Bowling
	Runs	Average	Wickets	Average
Fynn Hudson-Prentice	488	24.4	27	27.2
Jack Carson	454	23.9	26	39.9

But in the end, and as  KAT said:

I couldn’t care less about Statistics.

It's all about Team Success.

It was a tremendous run into the end of the Season.

Potential changes to the structure of the County Championship for 2026 – including fewer games – meant that a side-effect could have been no relegation from Division 1 at the end of 2025.

Not least because there was insufficient agreement amongst the Counties (and hence 2026 will continue to have 14 games), fortunately to staunch supporters of Promotion  & Relegation this was avoided.

On the final morning of the Season Hampshire lost to Surrey and for all the world it looked like they would go down with Worcestershire.

“All” Durham needed to do was bat out two and a bit sessions.

Collapsing to 85 all out and losing by an innings and 44 runs, they were relegated !

As Chuck Berry used to sing … You never can tell !!

So finally, let’s turn to the Division 1 table ....

Compared with the Bookies’ Predictions the two standout performers were:

Nottinghamshire – Champions with +7

Sussex – in 4^th place with +4

As for the Correlation Stat … 0.31

Even my feeble Schoolboy Maths from almost six decades ago tells me there was only a Weak Positive relationship between Predicted and Final Position, with only a slight tendency for the variables to move together.

I know … whatever the Bookies were predicting – at the start of the Season we could have told them that Sussex would be 4^th !!!!

Tied on 172 points with Warwickshire and Essex, Sussex’s 4 Wins compared with 3 each for the other two Counties made all the difference !

Because the number of games played and the points systems have varied over the Seasons, Win Rate (Wins as % of Games Played) is my preferred stat for Team Success.

Paul Farbrace has achieved a dramatic improvement in performance in his first 3 Seasons at Coach:

Seasons	Played	Won	Win Rate
2020 - 2022	33	3	9.1%
2023 - 2025	42	15	35.7%

Up in the Deckchairs we like to take the Long View …

1890 to 2025
Wins	810	Win Rate: 28.5%
Losses	912
Draws & Ties	1,119
Total	2,841

If Sussex have to Win for you to enjoy the game … Prepare for disappointment 3 times out of 4!

Don’t worry … Up in the Deckchairs we agree with Jim Senior:

---

So that’s Season 2025 done & dusted.

Winter Well, my friends !!

And in Season 2026 …

I really hope you will come down to Hove Actually … I’ve Saved a Deckchair for YOU!!!

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

2026 will be the 75^th Anniversary of my Favourite Game EVER !!

Kent v Sussex at The Nevill, Tunbridge Wells

On Tuesday 23^rd June at 6.30PM I will be back at the ground for a Special Celebration.

“ That Saturday evening now long, long ago it had all come down - as it always should - to the Final Ball.

3 needed.”

I have told the story a Million Times.

Indeed; as in all the Best Stories I 

Never let the Facts

Get in the way of

What Really Happened

But there is one Fact which I have never mentioned …

On 23^rd June I will be saying exactly what it is.

Prepare to be AMAZED !!!!

Join me at the Nevill for:

The Ball that Changed the World Forever

 

Young Jim at The Nevill in June 1951

For Some Days are Never To Be Forgotten

 

Those were the days, my friend

Hi everyone!

Some thoughts from Up in the Deckchairs

on

Sussex v Warwickshire

The ECB Reporter tells you what you need to know about the match:

“Warwickshire batted through a rain-affected final day

to draw their Rothesay County Championship match with Sussex at Hove.”

Whilst, as you would expect, I will briefly summarise what happened in the game,

     the Clue to the Blog is a song released way back in 1969 …

Gently dozing in the warm afternoon sun at Hove Actually, my thoughts turned to a Sussex v Warwickshire game which Dad & I were at in 1964 … and the words of Mary Hopkin !

Please enjoy:

Those were the days, my friend

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

Mary Hopkin

Live in 1969:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0pMKJCXJ-I

Where have the years all gone …

---  

Three days in the Hove sun with temperatures on the South Coast in the mid to high 20 degrees.

What did The Kinks sing …

Now I'm sitting here

Sipping at my ice cold beer

Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon

Look out for that Big Fat Moma !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEO8i2c_QI8

Seeking some respite from the sun, I left my beloved deckchairs up at the Cromwell Road end for the shade of the upper rows of the Sharks Stand at the Sea end and in the Pavilion, including watching from the Upper Tier.

 

Looking across the ground from the Upper Tier

My first ever visit in 66 seasons of watching!

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.

We grow old by deserting our ideas.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

Samuel Ullman

 ---

As for the game, it is a tale simply told.

The second of four rounds in this year’s County Championship with the Kookaburra ball (rather than the usual Dukes ball), runs were generally easier to make than wickets to take.

For the technically minded:

A Dukes ball is hand stitched with six rows of threads.

This makes the seam more pronounced than the Kookaburra and it maintains its shape for longer, favouring bowlers searching for seam and swing movement.

The Kookaburra is machine stitched and does not have the same handicraft in its manufacturing.

Across all the matches, batters prospered. 4,508 runs scored across the first innings, the most in any round of Championship cricket. 820 of those came from Surrey at The Oval, the 4^th highest ever.

At Hove, the game had 1,208 runs, but with only 24 wickets falling.

Sussex never got to bat again!

There were 150s were both Daniel Hughes (a near neighbour of mine) and James Coles (perhaps, a long shot for the England tour Down Under this winter).

The standout bowler was Warwickshire’s Corey Rocchiccioli.

I know … you’re wondering how to pronounce Corey !

Well, you’re in luck … YouTube has the answer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWWo5XgFZ10

I hadn’t heard of Corey before this game.

A quick check with Wikipedia & I can tell you he was born in Perth in Australia. An offspinner he plays for Western Australia and signed a short term contract with Warwickshire in June 2025.

(probably) The only First Class Cricketer with 4 Cs in his surname

Corey has played for Australia A. Perhaps he will make the Australia Test Team when England tour Down Under in 2025/26.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for Test cricket because I’ve never played at that level. 

But I have the self-belief that if I’m given the opportunity, I can hold my own.” 

Source: https://www.cricket.com/news/meet-corey-rocchiccioli-the-off-spinning-sensation-rewriting-history-in-perth-1062024-1728193744570

Experience with the Kookaburra ball served Corey very well in this game.

55 overs, 173 runs and 6 wickets

But across the game as a whole batters dominated bowlers.

And well into the final session on Day 4 - with Warwickshire in their 2^nd innings 127 runs ahead of Sussex with 6 wickets remaining – the teams shook hands on a draw.

After 9 Rounds of the Championship & with 5 Rounds remaining, the Mighty Sussex are in 3^rd place.

At the start of the season, I’d definitely have taken that !!!

---

So what about  … Those were the days, my friend

The game was 156^th meeting between the two Counties. The Sussex Cricket Museum had all the grounds where the teams have played each other.

156 & Counting

Looking through the list of games, there were several Warwickshire outgrounds which I don’t suppose will ever host First Class games again:

Leamington Spa, Coventry (three grounds), Nuneaton (two grounds) and the Mitchell and Butler’s in Birmingham.

In amongst all the much-loved Sussex outgrounds, I spotted the Manor Sports Ground in Worthing where two games have been against Warwickshire.

Including an incredible game in June 1964.

Sussex Legends at Worthing 

With Lord Ted & Young Jim away on England duty, Alan ‘Oaky’ Oakman captained Sussex.

Like me, Oaky was born in Hastings in 1066 Country.

Along with 2 Tests (including Jim Laker’s 19-fer at the Old Trafford Test in 1956), Oaky is 11^th on the Sussex all-time run scorers with over 20,000 runs and took over 700 wickets.

After retiring he became Coach at Warwickshire, leading them to the Championship in 1972 and then working the club for many years as Assistant Secretary.

But the Sussex Hero was Ian Thomson with a 10-fer in the 1^st innings & a 5-fer in the 2^nd.

His match figures were 15 for 64 !

But to no avail … with the Mighty Sussex all out in their 2^nd innings for only 23, Warwickshire won by 182 runs.

During the corresponding game this week, I pondered on Twitter whether this was the only time a player with a 15-fer (or better) had been on the losing side.

I am indebted to FH Stephen ( his website https://bythesightscreen.com/  is well-worth a read) for the information that in 1898 at Hove Harry Baldwin of Hampshire had a 15-fer in game where Sussex (including Test players CB Fry, Billy Murdoch, Harry Butt & Fred Tate) won by 134 runs.

If – like me – you haven’t heard of Harry Baldwin … his was an amazing cricket career, including a 10 year gap between his debut game in 1877 and his next game in 1887.

---

As I took a "well-deserved" doze after lunch up in the deckchairs, I remembered another Sussex v Warwickshire game in 1964.

On Saturday 5^th September that year the two sides were in the Final of the Gillette Cup at Lord’s.

Dad & I had been there when Sussex won the inaugural Final in 1963 and were back for the second one.

No Data Analysts in cricket 60 seasons ago. 

But there didn’t need to be for Ian Thomson reduced Warwickshire to 21 for 3. He ended with 4 for 23 and won Man of the Match.

Needing 128 to win, the Sussex openers Ken Suttle & Les Lenham scored 42 and 47, taking Sussex to 97 for 2.

There was time for not out cameos from Lord Ted & Young Jim with 17 & 21.

Sussex won by 8 wickets, retaining the Cup.

The Class of ‘64

As Dad & I drove across London and on through Sevenoaks and Tonbridge back home to Tunbridge Wells, we were chatting about whether all the time Ted & Young were playing, Sussex would win the Cup forever !!!

We really should have known much better.

For whilst we may have never heard of Mark Faber (an Oxford Blue who played over 50 times for Sussex in the 1970s), we had heard of his grandfather, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan:

Events, dear boy, Events.

On 28^th June 1965 Sussex lost for the first time in a Gillette cup match. Middlesex beating them at Lord’s by 90 runs.

The following day Lord Ted was on the way home from racing at Newbury. 

Running out of fuel on the Chiswick flyover. Pushing his car off the road, it began to move down  a short, steepish slope. Getting caught between the car and the doors at the bottom of the slope.

Ted broke his leg and was out of action for the rest of the season.

In September Ted met with the Sussex Chairman Arthur Gilligan  to resign as Captain and to say he would not be playing for Sussex in 1966.   

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end ... ...

It turned out what Dad & I should have known all along:

Everything that has a beginning has an ending.

Make your peace with that and all will be well.

Gautama Buddha

---

I’m on tour in British Colombia in Western Canada for most of July.

I’m hoping to visit Cowichan Cricket and Sports Club.

(possibly) The most westerly cricket ground in the world

And then in early August I’m on holiday for a week in Suffolk with the family.

Young JJ & I will be on the hunt for cricket grounds; obviously !

But; fear not ...

There’s still plenty of Season 2025 to watch in the second half of august & into September.

I really hope you will come down to Hove Actually … I’ve Saved a Deckchair for YOU!!!

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

By now you’ll have worked out that I’m going to miss the One Day Cup game at Arundel on Thursday 7^th August.

The Old Rivals: Sussex v Kent

When I'm a Billionaire & a Duke

I'll have a ground just like Arundel

I’ll be e-following the game.

As for the Result …

In June 2026 it will be the 75^th Anniversary of my Favourite Game EVER.

The Old Rivals at The Nevill, Tunbridge Wells.

That Saturday now long, long ago it all came down to the Final Ball.

Three needed.

May the game at Arundel also be a Last Ball Thrilla.

Same Result, please !!

#ExpectingToWin