You could be cleaning condoms in Kenya !

Hi everyone!

“ You could be cleaning condoms in Kenya ! ”

Murray Goodwin, Sussex and Zimbabwe

If you are a regular reader of Lord Ric blogs …

Well, you’ll probably be expecting an unlikely tale of a cricket match from the long ago Past …

Last ball of the game

One wicket left

Three needed

One bounce through midwicket

 

Sussex to WIN !!

 

A tale where - as usual - I never let the facts get in the way of what really happened !!

 

But … today we are heading into the Future.

 

Now, I need to ’fess up.

In my Professional Life I’ve spent almost half a century making Forecasts.

As a former Boss said:

We all know that Ric’s forecasts are about as useful as Astrology … just a lot less accurate !

Of course, I don’t believe in Astrology …

But then I’m a typical Gemini !!

 

 

So … let’s get going … 

What can I tell you about Season 2039 ?

In the County Championship it has been a Tremendous Year.

It really did all come down to the Final Game – Sussex v the old rivals Kent down at Hove Actually.

 

Last ball of the game

One Sussex wicket left

Three needed

 

Winner takes the Championship …

 

Well, you don’t need to believe in Astrology to know what the Result was always going to be; Obviously !!

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That Sunday morning on  2^nd October 2039 the weather was gloriously sunny right along the South Coast.

Just as it had been on my first ever visit to watch Sussex at Hove back in May 1960; Now almost 80 years ago.

Attending the 200^th Anniversary Lunch of the founding of Sussex County Cricket Club had long been on my Bucket List.

I’d turned 87 a couple of months before … so my walk down Palmeira Avenue was perhaps just bit slower than it had been in days of yore.

I walked along Eaton Road and turned right through the Tate Gates.

There was a huge marquee on the outfield.

And it was needed for the Club had invited every living player !

Looking round, I saw so many familiar, if slightly older, faces.

The Legends of my childhood days - the Lord Teds, Snowys & Young Jims - had sadly passed away.

But plenty of those who - like me - were born in the 1950s were present.

Paul Parker and his best friend in cricket Javed Miandid were chatting about matches they had played in together in the 1970s.

Of more recent vintage, Luke Wright was swapping stories with Chris Nash and Chris Jordan with Jofra Archer.

When it came to proposing the toast to Sussex Club that year’s President did a great job.

But I’d have expected no less from the Sussex’s Most Successful Captain, Chris Adams!

 

On the table I was sitting at John Barclay, Imran Khan (once Prime Minister of Pakistan) & Garth  ("If you can bowl fast, then bowl fast") Le Roux were telling unlikely tales.

 In one Sunday League game, against Essex at Hove, we were bowling first and Imran had got to the ground a bit late. We thought he might get into trouble, but it was Imran, so the captain, John Barclay, gave him a bit of leeway.

Normally in the Sunday League the quick bowlers wouldn't have any slips, just run-saving fielders. But this time it was a bit green, so Immy said to Barclay: "Three slips and a gully, please."

The Essex batting line-up was pretty good - Graham Gooch, Brian Hardie, Ken McEwan and Keith Fletcher, but Immy knocked over three of them in no time. 

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On each table - just as there had been at the 175^th anniversary lunch in 2014 - there was a card to select the Sussex Alltime XI.

Even Imran readily agreed that Lord Ted would bat No.3 and Captain the team!

And everyone agreed that John Barclay would be Team Manager.

The great names of Sussex cricket were soon noted down …

Greigy, Mushie, Ranji, Snowy, Maurice Tate …

 

But when it came to who should keep wicket, the discussion became much more serious.

Should it be Matt Prior or Young Jim? 

It began to look like Matt would get the selectors’ nod …

It was time to play my Trump Card: the Nevill, Tunbridge Wells almost 90 years before in June 1951.

The day that when Young Jim went to his 100 off the last ball of the day… and my to-be Mum & Dad got engaged!

 

Young Jim at the Nevill

It was Agreed: Young Jim would bat No.7 and keep wicket !

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But there was another player who was in the XI: Murray Goodwin,

Murray is the subject a recently published booklet by Sussex Cricket Museum and written by Bruce Talbot who for many years wrote about cricket for the Brighton Evening Argus.

Like every Legend must have, Murray has the Statistics.

 

Bruce Talbot summarises a First Class career for Sussex with 14,572 runs at an average of 49, with 48 centuries.

Murray’s record includes three of the top nine individual scores for Sussex, including the only player to score two Triple 100s.

Only CB Fry and Ranji have scored more than Murray’s double centuries

But Statistics alone are not enough to be a Legend.

You must Perform when it really matters.

Bruce Talbot writes about a Pro40 League game v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 2008.

With the Sussex No.10 Mohammad Sami at the wicket, Murray faced up to 97 runs needed off 10 overs.

He coached & coaxed Sami – who’s English wasn’t the best – to “hit straight, hit straight”.

The equation got down to 41 from 4 overs, then15 from the final over.

Then six from the last two balls.

And four needed from the last ball.

The situation demanded a batsman from the Sussex Alltime XI …

 

I guessed Shreck would go full and offside because he would be worried that I would lap him fine.

I went deep in my crease towards off stump because if he missed his yorker I'd maybe squeeze it past point or back past him. I swung but didn't quite get it in the screws. I hit it OK but it wasn't a shot I instantly thought was going for six

It had.

The ball landed ten yards over the boundary and Goodwin had won the match with a six.

Of course, for Sussex supporters Murray’s most famous game was on Thursday 18 September v Leicestershire at Hove.

Sussex needed to score 300 to get a sixth bonus point and win the County Championship for the first time.

With Sussex Captain Chris Adam at the other end …

 

Goodwin pulled a ball from DeFreitas to the boundary in front of the pavilion, sparking county cricket's equivalent of a pitch invasion.

As Adams and Goodwin embraced, their team-mates and the coaching staff flooded onto the outfield.

 

They were followed by club president Jim Parks, carrying a silver tray with glasses and a bottle of champagne.

 

As 'Sussex by the Sea' blared out over the PA, the squad embarked on an impromptu lap of honour as Leicestershire's bemused players looked on. More than ten minutes later the game resumed, and Sussex supporters everywhere wiped a tear from their eye.

 

For Some Days are Never to Be Forgotten

And, finally, to be a Legend you must Inspire Others.

Murray could get frustrated – can’t we all ??!! – with Sussex’s batting collapses.

 

They are all good players, that’s why they are playing at this level.

 

The difference then is whether you have the mental courage to get through the tough periods and cash in when the pitch flattens out or the bowlers get tired.

 

Doubtless Murray’s childhood in Zimbabwe gave him a positive outlook on life …

As Mandiba himself put it:

But playing with Murray definitely inspired others …

As Chris Nash reports in his well-written Foreword:

Players averaged 15 more when batting with Murray.

Chris Adams remembers his team talk before Murray’s first game for Sussex v Worcestershire at Worcester in May 2001:

After how the previous season ended it was quite tense.

Then Muzz stuck up his hand.

 

Listen guys, just enjoy the game and remember this:

 

You could be cleaning condoms in Kenya !

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So, my friends, now you know all about Season 2039 …

 

I really, really hope that you’ll come along and watch some cricket down at Hove Actually with me  -

and come to the Lunch !!

 

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

What a 200^th Anniversary Lunch it had been …

 

As I wandered back up Palmeira Avenue, it was a Moment of Memories … …

 

I've had my share of darkness: when light fails,

the surest step can miss the track. And yet

there dawns within me now a marvellous sun

 

whose rays enflame a pair of golden scales:

a perfect equilibrium of regret –

 

for all I've done and all I haven't done.

   

 

The Golden Scales by Robert Saxton

  

87 Not Out, eh …

 

Time to  push on for the Century !!!