Sussex - 2022

[Imager36]

Where has cricket gone since 2010?

As the main headline on the front of the paper today will have reminded you, many people who suffered in 'The Event' in 2010 have recently been released from the cryogenic labs at which they were being stored, as the cure for radiation poisoning was made available to the public last week. I felt I should try and sum up what has happened in cricket since 2010, for the benefit of these people and to refresh the memories of the rest of you.

International

Those of you waking up from 2010, be extremely well prepared for a shock before reading the next line.

Pakistan are the best Test team in the world.

There, I told you to prepare yourselves. They've transformed themselves from the team with so many problems they could open a problem factory to Test World Leaders in 12 years. And people don't really know how or why. In an era now of great bowlers, (cricket used to be a batsman's game!) They have one of the best batsmen in the world in Azeem Ghumman, who was actually playing first class cricket before 'The Event' actually happened, and has scored over 9000 runs in test matches at 44.18, with 22 100s, and although he had a slump in form last year, he is still only 31 and is likely to come back to form soon. Yasim Murtaza, their best bowler, a slow left armer, averages around 23 per wicket, and also played FC cricket before 'The Event' also being 31 now.

The top ODI team in the world is Australia, closely followed by England, but Australia at the top are deserved leaders in that format. They have, in my opinion and that of many others, the best batsman in the world since Bradman in Gary Beaumont, who is only 26. His FC average is over 70, and his test average over 60. Even his ODI average is almost 58. Phil Hughes, if course, is still imperious at the top of the order, with a career ODI average of almost 48.5. In the bowling attack, a young offspinner, Phil Murphy, has played 23 ODIs at just over 16 per wicket and an economy rate of just over 4. Evergreen 31 year old quick Graham Nye also shines brightly in ODIs, with an average of just under 20. After Australia decided he would not play any more tests after only 2, he concentrated on his one day game and has become a cult hero in Australia.

England have had success in ODIs, despite a strange policy of not continuing to pick players who perform exceptionally well in the bowling front, with no less than 4 bowlers averaging under 20 from between 10 and 20 matches, yet continuing to pick underperforming batsmen, with no current batsman averaging over 36. Somehow, however, they have managed to win a lot of matches without a lot of good players, holding the 2nd position in ODIs. In tests, they have also been good, with a rating of 3rd=, with Australia, but they have suffered again due to bad selection in my opinion.

Domestic

Prepare yourself time again.

The ECB haven't messed with the competition structure for 11 years.

After the cancellation of the 2010 season part way through due to 'The Event', the ECB for once did the sensible thing by deciding that part of the reason for 'The Event' may have been due to the lack of the 50 over game in the county structure, and reverted the system for the 2011 season back to how it was in the 2009 season. They haven't changed it since, and 'The Event' has not repeated itself, so maybe it's worked.

In terms of who's won trophies, Yorkshire have been dominant, with 9 trophies in only the past 6 years, including a treble winning season in 2018. Kent have also won 3 trophies in that period, as have Sussex under the Hopkinson banner (Mark Robinson quit immediately after the 'Event'). I can also, surprisingly tell you that the holders of the Challenge Trophy going into the 2022 season are Scotland CC, beating Hopkinson's Sussex in the final, something that may have well made Hopkinson resign at the end of the season.

In terms of perennial failures, Glamorgan have established themselves as the worst side, with 5 bottom placed finishes in the 2 divisional competitions in only the past 6 years, making so many wooden spoons they almost need another utensils draw to fit them all in. Somerset, the second best one day team in the country pre-'Event', are now almost permanent fixtures in the bottom tiers of English cricket.

If the whole regeneration process didn't work well, and you don't remember what cricket is or who I am, don't start trying to re-find out. Cricket is a cruel mistress, and you really don't want to know who I am. Honestly.

PS - My web browser doesn't seem to think that followed is a word, and if it isn't then I've been making it up for the past 15 or so years! :P

[Imager36]

Note - I know it's a long one, but it does at least clear some things up!

The players of 2010:- Are any still playing?

I have had many of my old friends who were frozen after 'The Event' come up to me and ask me how the players are who used to play in their days. Because of how few friends I have, there are many people in the Sussex area who still don't know, and here, I'll try to clear some of that confusion up.

Firstly, the best batsmen of the generation that you came from, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. With almost 40,000 test runs between them, the three have all been knighted. King Antonio (long story) knighted them all in 2013, in his well known 'Offer knighthoods to almost everyone' year. There was, however, one condition, that has to be upheld until one of them dies, which is that they all have to live together for a fortnight each February in a bedsit in Hackney. I was also offered a knighthood in that year, however I rejected as the condition the great king presented me with was that I had to spend each May for the rest of my life in a sealed tank with 70 piranhas.

In terms of players who are still playing the game, Adil Rashid here at Sussex is an obvious choice, as well as then youngster James Harris playing here as well. Steve Davies (Keeper) now plays for Warwickshire, but does well for England as well. Former England stars Steven Finn and Liam Plunkett both turn out for Essex, but that's not really a big deal as I'm sure my mother could make at least their Second XI. Alastair Cook still plays for Hampshire regularly, but was dropped by England in 2012 and never restored. Ravi Bopara also plays, now for Lancashire, but his career has gone severely downhill since his heyday in the late 2000s. Finally, as far is England is concerned, Stuart Broad, now 35, still turns out for Middlesex, and played a lot of matches for England yet never really developing into that allrounder England needed.

Sir Phil Hughes (one week in each September constantly arguing with Sir Ian Botham), who I have previously mentioned, is still a major Australian force, with the most test match runs ever by one player to his name, with almost 16,000 runs at an average of over 50. Peter Siddle also still plays for Australia, and he has the largest amount of test wickets by any of the players still playing, with 784 to his name, not far off the record that Murali still holds at 801. At the age of 37, though, it looks unlikely that Siddle will overtake him.

In India, a large amount of players continue. One of the most successful of these, who has the most runs, is Gautam Gambhir. He has accumulated over 10,500 in just over 150 matches, which led to many questions from the public as to how he was allowed to play so many matches without being dropped. Murali Vijay, now being 38, still turns out for Central Districts, but his India career was cut short some time ago, as was Manoj Tiwary's and Virat Kohli's. Kohli averages over 53 in FC cricket even at the age of 33, but has never pushed for a recall. Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Kartik have interchanged as keeper throughout the years, with Patel having slightly more success, although both were cut loose a while ago when new keeper Seth came through. In terms of Indian bowlers, Ishant Sharma has been by far the most successful, with over 700 wickets in tests. Piyush Chawla played almost 50 tests, as did Irfan Pathan, before they both retired at the end of last season.

As far as New Zealand is concerned, only Tim Southee survives in cricket, so this chapter will be nice and short. He has only played 67 tests and taken a tad over 200 wickets at a tad over 33, so he hasn't been overly successful, but he is still playing every so often and for Northern Districts, and seems to be a handy performer, but nothing more.

For Pakistan, no players who were playing international cricket still play. I suppose that was necessary for them to become the best test side in the world! For South Africa, three batsmen still regularly play for the country in test matches, their all time highest run scorer AB de Villiers (12,337), JP Duminy who has now played 131 tests, and Hashim Amla who has played 151!

For Sri Lanka, only 2 players still play, those being tricky spinner Ajantha Mendis and 'allrounder' Angelo Mathews. Mendis has played 100 tests and taken 693 wickets, and Mathews has inexplicably taken only 1 test wicket, which I'm informed is less then he'd taken when you were last awake. He has, however, scored over 6000 test runs, which more than makes up for his bowling failings.

As far as the West Indies are concerned, Kieron Pollard has played 31 tests, and Denesh Ramdin is also still going, with over 100 tests and over 3800 runs in those tests. For Bangladesh, Shakib-al-Hasan is the only one worth mentioning and has scored over 4400 test runs and taken over 280 test wickets, with these are counting up as he continues to add to his 86 tests.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll all get used to the new superstars and start to worship them instead!

If you did get to the end of that, well done, I'll try to make them a bit shorter in future!

[CyberCricketer]

'The Event', hahaha! Nice one...

How can Angelo Mathews have less wickets than he did in 2009?

And what's the state of Zimbabwe cricket?

Anyway, loving this story, can't wait to see the Sussex bowlers.

[Imager36]

'The Event', hahaha! Nice one...

How can Angelo Mathews have less wickets than he did in 2009?

And what's the state of Zimbabwe cricket?

Anyway, loving this story, can't wait to see the Sussex bowlers.

Ha, 'The Event' allows me to say nothing about it but lets everyone know what I mean!

Angelo has less because I decided that 'The Event' should occur some point forwards in time from today (as it hasn't happened yet) and he already has 5 in real life since the start of the ICC09 game season!

Zimbabwe, and indeed Bangladesh, have not really improved in terms of their results and are 9th and 10th in both forms.

Yes, the bowlers should be up within a couple of days, I'm raring to start the whole season now, all this preseason stuff's doing my head in

[Imager36]

Sussex Squad Part Five - Allrounders

Name - Adil Rashid
Age - 34
Year joined - 2010
Profile - The first player that Carl Hopkinson signed, Adil Rashid is a previous captain of the club, but retired after only 1 season in the job as he felt that his batting and bowling had gone backwards, and handed over the captaincy to Andy Hodd in 2016. Being almost ever present for Sussex since he joined, Rashid has played 243 first class matches and 261 one day matches, boasting 9,999 first class runs at an average of 32.25, a number which many people believe may have stopped him retiring at the end of last season. He also has 802 first class wickets at 27.28. One dayers have always been his special suit, however, with 3064 one day runs at 25.11 and 459 wickets at only 21.35. His shy demeanor in interviews makes him easy to get on with, as he is one of the nicest people on the county circuit. A great batsman, and a great legspinner.
Sugden needs to - Get Rashid to encourage a new generation of spinners to Sussex, as he is the only one remaining.

Name - James Harris
Age - 31
Year joined - 2010
Profile - Slightly underused by Hopkinson, another brought in during his first season, Harris has played exactly 42 less first class matches than Rashid and 41 less one day matches in their careers, as well as playing 22 ODIs and 6 test matches for England, averaging at just under 21 in the ODIs, making him one of the bowlers who was cruelly discarded after very good performances. Not really a true allrounder, as all those at the club aren’t except Rashid, Harris is an extremely good bowler with batting nous, having an FC batting average of over 20, and having 17 FC 50s, albeit with his top score as 99. I’m sure he’d like to break that 100 barrier before the end of his career, but that all depends on someone staying with him for long enough, as he has 55 not outs in 296 innings! With 785 FC wickets, however, he isn’t someone who would be left out of any well thinking coach’s plans, and I’m sure he’ll play a large part in Sugden’s side, especially in the one day format.
Sugden needs to - Promote stickability in the lower order to help him through to a century!

Name - Glen Coddington
Age - 30
Year joined - 2016
Profile - Coddington, even more underused than Harris, with only 104 first class appearances since 2013 when he started, is a vastly underrated bowler and indeed batsman who has, at times, had to prop up Sussex’s lower order with Harris after a collapse. With a batting average only 0.2 lower than Harris’s, the two have been known, in past years, to appear at 9 and 10 in the batting order, with Hodd at 6, Rashid at 7 and handy Sri Lankan allrounder Geeth Alwis (Sussex 2014-2020) at 8. Although he has never actually taken international honours, he has been a solid county player for many seasons, and has been likened by pundits (me included) to Robin Martin-Jenkins, albeit slightly shorter and stockier as a man! With over 500 FC wickets to his name as well, averaging out at around 5 wickets per FC match, he is likely to be one part of the tough choices that Sugden will have to make on the bowling front.
Sugden needs to - Decide whether solid county pros are good enough to make his team.

Name - Anthony Hunt
Age - 34
Year joined - 2012
Profile - A decade at Sussex now for Hunt, he is getting on a bit now, and it remains to be seen as to how often he will play for Sugden’s new regime. Some left-field pundits such as Sky’s Mark Ramprakash have suggested that Sugden may make him captain, but this reporter thinks that this may well be just because of the fact that he was a Middlesex and Surrey player, and had his career ended by Chris Adams, making him hate Sussex with a passion, with him just trying to give Sugden ideas. With an FC batting average just under 20 and the best FC bowling average in the entire squad of Sussex players (just under 26). Also with the best figures in a single innings of any player in the Sussex squad (8/88), Hunt has never been short of talent, but has never made an international appearance, something which is surprising given his figures compared to long time international bowler, often regarded as one of the best quick bowlers in England, team mate Greg Warner, who’s played 73 tests and rising. We’ll look at Greg in a later article.
Sugden needs to - Find someone to follow in Hunt’s footsteps.

These bowlers who can bat a bit are all ageing, so a major challenge for Sugden is to try and teach a bowler to bat, find one, or play with 4 bowlers in FC matches and have a weak tail in OD matches in the foreseeable future.

[Imager36]

Just a quick update on the captaincy situation today. I should have the rest of the bowlers up for tomorrow.

Foot's Odds Slashed to 4/1 for Sussex Captaincy

In a surprise move, Martin Foot's odds have been slashed from the initial 9/1 to 4/1 in the past few days as money has been piled on the 29 year old batsman.

In other news from the betting shops, Paul Ewing has had his odds raised to 20/1 as he now seems to be out of the race to succeed Andy Hodd as captain of the Sharks at Hove. Adil Rashid is now more likely to take over on a one season deal according to the bookies with his odds now at 7/1. Anthony Hunt, not mentioned much in the contest up until now, has also had his odds slashed to 11/2, giving him a decent chance of being Sugden's first captain.

In other Sussex news, I am pleased to announce that Andy Sugden will be revealing his decision on the captaincy to us first in the exclusive interview in a fortnight's time, exactly one month before the start of Sussex's season. In terms of that interview, of course, we still need your questions to ask to him during that time. Martin Robinson hasn't got enough by himself! Anyway, over now to that self-same Martin Robinson, as he interviews an actual bookie, because he is paid to do something every four days!

MR - Good morning, and welcome to Ladbrokes, Hove. Remember, during the course of this interview, that other betting shops are available, and this is just the one I like most! Anyway, I've found someone to speak to, and that is the manager of this particular store, Robert Harding.

RH - Good afternoon, Martin.

MR - It's 10:42.

RH - So it is.

MR - Yes. Anyway, what are the reason's for the slashing of Foot's odds?

RH - The fact that a lot of money has gone on him the past few days.

MR - Smart money?

RH - Unlikely, any money coming into a bookie's is dumb if you ask me.

MR - Fair enough. Any news of the wicketkeeper odds?

RH - No new news, but Freshwater is still most likely to play, even with the new addition of Griffith, but that shop down the road has Morley as favourite. Bookies are useless.

MR - You are a bookie?

RH - Yes, but I never wanted to be a bookmaker. I wanted to be a lumberjack!

MR - I think that pretty much sums it up.

Thank you for trying, Martin Robinson, remember, quantity of interviewees over quality. Talking about quality, Sugden needs more questions!

[ab5ides1]

A brilliant (if a little slow moving, but not in a bad way) story. Perhaps ask Andy about the best players on the county circuit not in your team. Is your game like all of mine whereby when you get that far in only about 5 players (not including your own) average over 40?

[Imager36]

Yeah, ab5ides1, I didn't expect ICC10 to be out until around the end of June so I was banking on continuing this until then at least. I still will, of course, but I'm doing it on the Planet Cricket forum as well so I have a wide enough audience to play to!

[Imager36]

Sussex Squad Part Six - The Other Bowlers

Name - Greg Warner
Age - 32
Year joined - 2009
Profile - Joining Sussex in 2009, Greg Warner has had an illustrious career with Sussex, and has been one of the players who has been synonymous with the Carl Hopkinson era and was one of his largest allies in the Sussex camp with Adil Rashid and Andy Hodd. Still boasting an England central contract, Warner has been the best one day bowler in the past decade. Once a protégé of James Kirtley, he has gone above and beyond him, playing in 73 tests averaging just over 31 and 27 ODIs with an average of 21.09. His List A record is fantastic, with 245 wicket with a run rate of 4.2 and an average of only 18.53. A number 10 or 11 batsman, Warner occasionally ends up slogging down the order, hitting 3 sixes in his high score of 31 in one day cricket. Not a great fielder either, often hidden at 3rd man, Warner could be referred to as a pie eater, but with his phenomenal line and length bowling, certainly not a pie chucker.
Sugden needs to - Make Warner his ally.

Name - Paul Bannister
Age - 24
Year joined - 2016
Profile - Brought through the youth academy the year after talented swing bowler Sam DeFries left to Kent, Bannister is a man who often goes for runs, but is a vital wicket taker in FC cricket for Sussex. Taking the new ball often with Anthony Hunt in the longer form, Bannister has got a knack for removing high profile openers, such as Horace Delaney and Henry Rush of England. A lot of Bannister's wickets go caught at slip, due to his swing, which is why he often starts well in one day matches and goes around the park later on, when the slips have disappeared. Bannister is most certainly part of Sussex's future, and maybe if he continues well, part of England's.
Sugden needs to - Keep slips in to Bannister later on in a OD innings.

Name - Jack Conran
Age - 21
Year joined - 2021
Profile - A 21 year old with a bright future in cricket, Conran transferred from Cambridge University at the end of the 2021 season. So far in his short career, he has promised much, with 45 wickets at 14.02 in one day cricket, with a run rate of only 3.85. A more than capable batsman, with 4 first class 50s, Conran may turn into a handy no.8 batsman in the future, something that Sugden will be more than grateful for by the time Hunt, Coddington, Rashid and Harris retire. Conran could have a nice future.
Sugden needs to - Get the best out of him.

Name - Jim Bramble
Age - 21
Year joined - 2021
Profile - Another 21 year old with a bright future, Jack Conran, sorry Jim Bramble, is another player with a good future in the game. An FC average of over 42 is something that obviously needs to be addressed, as does his OD run rate of 5.2. These aren't problems that can't be addressed, and he is a very talented player, but I wanted to say something other than what I said about Conran.
Sugden needs to - Get the best out of him.

Name - Simon Henderson
Age - 23
Year joined - 2020
Profile - Yet another young bowler who has a lot of talent, there is almost nothing left to say about Henderson, apart from possibly see above. Thanks for seeing us through with our squad updates. Andy Sugden will be interviewed in the next few days by Martin Robinson. I will be giving him a pep talk.
Sugden needs to - Get the best out of one of them.

[stanley_1994]

That is the nice of you imager.

[Imager36]

The one we’ve been waiting for - Exclusive interview with Andy Sugden

And this one is actually exclusive. Sugden hasn’t sold up to a national newspaper. Martin Robinson has been warming up his notes, and taking on board all of your questions, before going into the interview room and asking basically as many as he could in his 15 minute time slot. Good luck, Martin.

MR - Andy Sugden, new head coach of Sussex, hello!

AS - Hello, Martin, welcome to my regime!

MR - That seemed almost threatening!

AS - Haha, don’t worry, I won’t kill you. Probably!

MR - Ha, I suppose I’d better start questioning. Firstly, why did you take the job?

AS - Why not, Martin? As a lifelong fan of this club I couldn’t say no, I’d have done it for free if asked!

MR - How do you feel the quality of the squad is here?

AS - Very good, actually. I feel we have a decent balance between talented youngsters and experienced heads, which should really help the team going forward.

MR - True. How have you tried to stop the well known division in the squad from last year, in which there were almost two groups within the camp, and, proved the downfall of Hopkinson?

AS - I really don’t think that it’s true that there was a division in the squad, and if so, it did not lead to Carl’s downfall, the loss of the championship and the poor performance in Pro40 were the things that really got him. I’m sure the whole division thing was just crossed wires, but I’ll make sure to sort out any trouble if any arises.

MR - Okay. Now, about your signings...

AS - Yes. I knew you’d ask about them! I’m not sure that either of them, Norton or Griffith, are ready to make an instant impact in the first team, but I feel that Norton will be really ready to play for the club by the time that Jim Wright goes on international duty, and Griffith will just need to improve on his batting until I feel he is ready to take the gloves.

MR - I understand the signing of Norton totally, but why did you feel that you had to bring in another keeper when the club already has 2 talented young keeper/batsmen? Also, do you not think it will undermine Morley and Freshwater’s confidence?

AS - I can see why you might think that, but I feel that Griffith could well be the best keeper/batsman of his generation if he gets it right in the next decade or so. Also, I feel that, if necessary, there could be a place for two keepers in the team if they all prove their batting capabilities.

MR - Hmm. We’ll just have a couple of reader’s questions before I ask you about the captaincy. Firstly, this from a Mr. J. Cricket, which I presume isn’t his real name, ‘What is your cricket background?’ Good question. I don't really know who you are yet.

AS - Haha, how far back do you want me to go? I was an untalented right medium bowler at club level for several years, before deciding to do a bit of coaching. I did some coaching of Horsham, here in Sussex, having players such as Martin Foot playing for me during that time. I moved to NRS Zimbabwe 6 years ago and coached the Rhinos. I obviously did well because I’ve been offered this job here!

MR - Just to verify for everyone at home, he has the suntan to prove it! Another from Mr. Cricket, ‘What sort of culture will you try to instil in the Sussex camp that will make them champions?’

AS - Good question! I want to make them ruthless, ready to win from any situation. I’m not afraid to try new things, either, so I don’t want them to be offended if I leave them out. It just means that they need to work harder in the nets to try and convince me to put them back in. Likewise, no-one’s position is safe, and every single member of the squad can get into the team if they try hard enough and show me just how good they are. There’s no point picking hero’s who can’t perform.

MR - And finally from the readers, one from a Mr.ab5ides1, who asks what you think about your competition? Who threatens you?

AS - Everyone does! Anyway, I would say that Yorkshire are the largest threat in any competition this season. They won the Pro40 last year, and beat us to second in the championship, as well as being runners up in the T20. They have some really great players. Their batsmen, for example Golley, a great opener, Cope, a good middle order player, the overseas experience of Rizwan behind the stumps, Munday, who looks extremely promising and Kitson, who I coached at Horsham, and is of course, a Sussex reject! In the bowling department also, they have Ant Tetley, who is, to put it bluntly, the best spinner in the land. I don’t know why England haven’t come knocking for him yet.

MR - How about Northants? They look a good one day side.

AS - They most certainly are a good side. Their bowling is probably the strongest in England with Callan and Roberts both being good quicks and 23 year old David Garret looking like a superb young all-rounder. I’d have him in my squad, certainly.

MR - In which case, Andy, I’d like to move on to the captaincy issue. We have about 5 minutes left, so who have you chosen?

AS - Looking around the squad, the captaincy has been a difficult decision for me. There are a lot of strong personalities in the squad, and a lot of candidates for the job of captain. My initial choice was Adil Rashid, but after he decided that he did not want the job after last time he took it, he had a say in my actual decision for captain.

MR - Which was?

AS - To choose James Harris as captain, with Paul Ewing as vice-captain.

MR - Hmm. Interesting. I didn’t actually have questions ready for a decision on Harris. I’ll make some up. Why did you choose him?

AS - Well, in my eyes he is a very similar man to Adil Rashid. He is a relatively strong character without being over the top in his ways of dealing with the other players. He seems to get on with all the players as well, something very important for the captain of any team. I feel I can work with him, as well.

MR - Do you think that the selection of Paul Ewing as vice-captain will jar with some of the players? He is, most certainly, a strong personality, but will this not hurt team morale?

AS - I don’t believe so, no. I think that Paul was treated a bit badly in the media under Carl, and he should really have stood up for him more in my opinion. Also, since the age of around 26 when he was a real troublemaker, he has mellowed, and now is just an experienced head who is also a very good county opener.

MR - Andy Sugden, thank you very much.

And thank you yet again, Martin Robinson. James Harris is most definitely a surprise. We shall have to wait to see how he does as captain. We'll be back with the squad in a month's time to see what the squad is for the first game against Lancashire.

- That was a long one, but Sugden has a lot of questions to answer!

[ab5ides1]

Thanks for including my question Imager36. As Warwickshire I chose Harris as captain when he was 35 and his firstclass performances became dismal whereas his one day performances kept being brilliant. Will be interesting to see how it pans out.

[Imager36]

County Championship 2022 - Sussex vs. Lancashire

Lancashire, a strong side led by former England batsman Ravi Bopara, and also including one of the best county keeper batsmen, Tom Oddie, former Sussex opener Joe Gatting and Bangladeshi allrounder Suhrawadi Shuvo, are Sussex's first opponents this season. The teams lie below.

Jim Wright
Paul Ewing
Alec Hodgson
Wayne Austerfield
Ben Bird
Adil Rashid
James Freshwater (K)
James Harris (C)
Glen Coddington
Anthony Hunt
Paul Bannister

Nick Cooke
Joe Gatting
Barry Fallis
Ravi Bopara (C)
Paul Sutherland
Tom Oddie (K)
Morris Cooke
Suhrawadi Shuvo
Peter Atkin
Tom Mansfield
Larry Ricketts

So, what does that team selection tell us about Sugden's attitudes towards his team?

- He feels that Freshwater is his best option as keeper
- He prefers Bannister to Warner in FC cricket
- He likes to have a team that bats a long way down (to 10 in this case)
- He wants a blend of youth (Austerfield, Bird) and experience (Hodgson)
- He doesn't have high confidence in Freshwater's batting (batting at 7)
- He likes Glen Coddington

So, we'll have to wait and see how the team fares, but the Lancashire side is strong, and may well pose a stiff challenge for Sugden and his side. The weather is set fair here in Hove, and the early season pitch most certainly has something in it.

[Imager36]

Bannister Bowls Sussex to Victory

Paul Bannister grabbed 9 wickets as Sussex won the first match of Andy Sugden's regime, after Nick Cooke and Barry Fallis almost secured a draw for Lancashire.

After James Harris lost the toss and was forced to field first, Bannister started exceptionally well, taking 3 wickets, those of Nick Cooke, Barry Fallis and the captain Ravi Bopara. Oddie and Sutherland offered some resistance in the middle order, but Sutherland was stopped just before lunch on the first day as Austerfield took a fantastic slip catch off James Harris, going for 27. Suhrawadi Shuvo holed out without thinking to mid off for only 6, and Atkin offered some low order resistance with Oddie before the remainder of the order were dismissed, and Lancashire were all out for 172.

Sussex came out to bat at 3:03, with a tricky 36 minute session before lunch. Ewing and Wright refused to make it interesting, and by 5:09, Sugden had his first 100 partnership as Ewing coasted onto 57. Soon after, Shuvo got Jim Wright lbw for 42 with Sussex then 104/1. Hodgson never really looked settled on day 1, with numerous balls hitting him on the pads, but he ended on 24 when the players left the field.

In the first over of the second day, Shuvo bowled Ewing for his overnight score of 77. Three overs later, Austerfield tamely hit a ball back to Mansfield for 1, and Lancashire had Sussex 149/3. Left arm spinner Shuvo decided to bowl over the wicket against left hander Bird, and it worked as Bird missed a leg glance to be caught on his crease lbw for 1. Hodgson decided to counterattack, and he was let off a skied shot to mid off, as Bopara dropped a sitter. Sussex went into lunch 220/5.

14 minutes after lunch, Rashid was given lbw off Mansfield, and at 2:07, Freshwater edged a catch through to the keeper. Harris went as well, but Hodgson reached his century, but when he was out, Coddington added 60, and Hunt went for 39 to Ricketts, the bowler, not the medical condition. Sussex were 252 in front and had a chance of an innings win.

By lunch on the third day, Lancashire were 135/1, and that innings win looked a long way off, as the lead was only 117. Bannister got Cooke lbw for 99, but that was the only wicket in the afternnon session as Lancashire motored along to only 4 behind. Bopara got caught on 59, but Ewing dropped a catch off Fallis. It didn't matter as Fallis went next over, bowled by Bannister, so no elderly fielders had to be involved.

Sutherland went at 11:29, lbw Bannister for 52, and Oddie followed soon after for 43, this time bowled by Bannister. Hunt got Shuvo lbw for 10, Rashid bowled Atkin for 1, Hunt bowled Mansfield for 1 and then wrapped it up by catching Ricketts (very funny) in the same over for a duck. Sussex had 179 to chase in 2 and a quarter sessions. The win was most certainly on.

Ewing edged an early ball through to the keeper, and Hodgson and Austerfield made it dodgy by going soon after, but Wright and Bird easily knocked off the runs and gave Sussex a 7 wicket victory. Sugden had his first 21 points as Sussex coach.




Murray Goodwin Award (Batting) - Jim Wright, Alec Hodgson
Mustaq Ahmed Award (Bowling) - Paul Bannister

Other results - Glouscestershire beat Northamptonshire by 58 runs.

Just to make it clear - Murray Goodwin award is for FC batting, Mustaq Ahmed for FC bowling, Chris Nash for OD batting and James Kirtley for OD bowling. Each is given out to one or two players who impress in any given match, and I'll add them up at various points in the season.

[Chasjs]

Nice... Bopara and Gatting at Lancs... disappointed to see no Karl Brown or Steven Croft, their awesome on my game. For me they're like the new Mike Atherton and Neil Fairbrother.

Oh... and Shwadiwadi.

Looks like you've got a cracking side.