Hi everyone!
Some Thoughts from Up in the
Deckchairs
on
Sussex v Leicestershire
In a game that went into the final session of a weather affected Day 4, Sussex did the double over Leicestershire & are the only team in Division 1 with 3 wins from the first 5 games of Season 2026.
I was Up in the Deckchairs on Days
1 & 2.
130 miles away in Bristol …
James Taylor on loan from Surrey was making his debut for Kent in the game v Gloucestershire.
It turns out that although there
really is Only One Harry Zacariah …
There is more than one James Taylor.
There is – of course – only one #SussexImmortal Jim
Cornford.
More on Jim later in the Blog.
Please enjoy:
Sunny Days that would never end
Health Warning
This Blog contains information on a Kent game
which may affect lifelong Sussex Fans of a sensitive nature.
I've seen Fire
and I've seen Rain
I've seen Sunny Days that I thought would never end
Fire and Rain by James Taylor
Days 1 & 2 of Sussex v Leicestershire were indeed Sunny Days that I thought would never end.
But - OK; there wasn’t actually a Fire – the weather changed so much that by Tea on Day 4 Sussex Fans were checking their Met Office app for any rain squalls that would let Leicestershire off the hook.
Fortunately, the rain held off allowing Sussex to win the game by 7 wickets.
Looking at the scorecard, the top score in Leicestershire 1st
innings of 328 was 63 by Ian Holland, the captain and … (probably) the only cricketer
born in Wisconsin, USA to ever play at Hove !
Ian Holland plays for Washington Freedom in the MLC
Sussex’s 430 was in large part due 136 from Daniel Hughes & 114 from John Simpson -whose 11 FC hundreds in 33 Sussex matches are more than he scored in 200 for Middlesex.
Source: Xav Voight-Hill
(Young Jim: 22 in 338 matches)
For those looking carefully at the Leicestershire 2nd
Innings will see included under Extras:
5 Penalty Runs.
In not too far off 70 Seasons of watching, I’d never come across Penalty Runs.
Sussex Coach Paul Farbrace explains:
But the 5 Penalty Runs made no difference to the outcome of the game.
Set 131 to win – and with the T20 Vitality Blast just round the corner – Sussex won in the 16th over to go 4th in Division 1.
[Editor: It would have been Top of Division1 but for the 12 points deduction imposed by the ECB as part of its Special Measures.
Whatever you do … Don’t tell, Lord Ric !
Or he will start moaning - AGAIN - about the FRS 102 compliance issue in Note 25 Cash (used) / generated from group operations on page 37 of the Sussex 2025 Annual Report !!! ]
---
Of course, watching from Up in the Deckchairs is always about much more than what happens on the pitch.
I was delighted to be joined by 3 Guests.
David: a Libel Lawyer – a regular Deckchair Chum, for who would ever want to watch without legal advice just in case I say something about the Sussex Committee without using the qualifier ‘allegedly’.
Tim: a Technology Innovation Expert. Tim grew up in the shadow of the
MetLife Stadium, the shared home of the New York Giants & the New York Jets
in the NFL.
*** What about Kent & Sussex ground-sharing at The Nevill, Tunbridge Wells ??!!
Justin: an Investment Banker. Justin is a lifelong Leicestershire fan
& a current Surrey Member. Naturally … he brought the Annual Reports of the
2 Counties !!
Come back soon, Lads !!!
---
130 miles away at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol Gloucestershire were playing Kent.
The Skinners’ Lads were there on their latest On the Road trip.
In the photo there are indeed 3 Old Skinners & - on the right
- 1 Old Juddian.
Out on Early Release
His Probation Officer is just off camera !!
For those – like me – who love their Amazing Stats …
The Kent XI was (probably) the first ever to have:
Old Skinner: Ben Dawkins
&
Old Juddian: Ekansh Singh
Also in the Kent XI was James Taylor, though not James Fire
& Rain Taylor nor James Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Sussex
& England Taylor.
James only played one game for Sussex. Scored a century v
Australians in July 2013.
Match Report:
After his health issues, it was wonderful to see James – now the Leicestershire Assistant Coach – strolling round the outfield looking so well.
But back to Bristol …
I Wiki’d James
Taylor to discover that he had played for Derbyshire & England U19s before moving
to Surrey in 2020.
He was then loaned to Kent for 2 County Championship games, including the game v Gloucestershire.
I hope Mr Taylor wouldn’t mind me saying that his FC record prior to
playing for Kent is but modest.
But as the mandatory financial disclaimer states:
"Past performance is not a guide to future results"
Mr Taylor’s 1st innings 6 for 52 was followed in Gloucestershire’s
2nd innings by 4 for 54.
Match figures of 10 for 106, the fabled 10-fer.
I regularly write about Schools, that the Men’s FC game is dominated by those who went to Independent schools, about my passion for #Cricket4All.
Mr Taylor went to Trentham HS (now Trentham Academy) in Stoke-on-Trent. Source: Stephen Hope
You’ve probably never heard of Trentham HS; I hadn’t.
But a quick look at the website told me all I want to know.
Aspiration is limitless
Wherever you went to school & whatever
your FC record shows …
You too can take a 10-fer !!
Beating Gloucestershire by 2 wickets, Kent notched up their second consecutive win & go 5th in division 2; just 7 points behind 2nd place Middlesex.
They may be the Old Rivals… But nothing I’d like more than for Kent to be back in Division 1 !!
---
Plenty of Season 2026 still to come…
You may not be a Libel Lawyer, a Technology Innovation Expert or an Investment Banker.
But …
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
So, who was … Jim Cornford ?
Jim is a Sussex Immortal.
He played in my Favourite Game EVER.
Kent v Sussex at the Nevill in June 1951.
In a few weeks’ time I will be back at The Nevill
for a Special Semi-sesquicentennial blog:
The Gossamer Strand of Memory
As part of my research for the Blog, I contacted Ray Phillips in the Sussex Cricket Museum.
Ray’s research provided his usual context & colour.
Jim grew up in Crowborough & played for Jarvis Brook CC, where he was ‘discovered’.
Jim was a good County Pro: 332 games with 1,019 wickets at 26.
He ( probably ) bowled 63,206 balls without ever being called for a No Ball.
In 1931/32 he spent the winter in India at the invitation of Ranji.
After retiring from FC Cricket in 1952 Jim became Cricket Coach at St George’s College in what was then Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia. He died in what is now Harare in Zimbabwe in 1985.
As for his Wedding …
I particularly liked Mr & Mrs Cornford are spending their honeymoon in Brighton.
As the article says Jim was injured that season.
I wonder if he took
his new wife to watch the cricket on their honeymoon.
Even I didn’t do that …
No cricket on the
Greek island of Agistri in October !!!
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