v Nottinghamshire (H) Thu 7 Apr to Sun 10 Apr CC

Agree he’s a big loss but we have to look forward now. It’s quite remarkable how quiet this board is when we are doing well and just how many people post once we subside and loose! We are supposed to be supporters so let’s get behind the team. Well done young Clark, great effort! And well tried all the young players against the strong favourites for promotion.

I'm going to answer these questions based on my belief in the 5 year plan they put in place last year to try and rectify previous failings.

1. Is the squad improving year on year? Yes significantly, particularly when you consider how many players were unavailable and we still put in a strong performance against a top team.
2. Are we finishing in a better or worse league position each year? I think we will finish higher this year than last and we will win more games of cricket.
3. Have we got more or less members than we used to? No idea, i dont care too be honest. It's not my concern
4. Are the crowds getting bigger or smaller? Smaller but thats down to the ECB's lack of promotion and also due to live streaming
5. As a club are we getting more or less attractive for players to join? More, signing Rizwan and Pujara suggest that. Finn also spoke very highly of the project here, our inability to be able to compete financially with the big clubs can hold us back.
6. Are we getting better or worse at retaining our talent? Worse but as above Finances dictate. 

That was a very sad performance and horribly reminiscent of last year.

The 5 year plan? In general, 5 year plans are the refuge of those that have little idea of what to do in the short term. The authors are safe in the knowledge that they will probably not be there in 5 years time or, if they are, have 5 year’s worth of excuses – of “could not foresees” – forgiving them for under achievement.

But even if the plan works, it will be too late to halt the inexorable slide into minor county status, however it may be badged . Every indication is that the first class game will lose six counties. Those that are invited to participate in the brave new world will not be those that have long histories or lovely grounds or even strong balance sheets but those who will contribute to strengthening English cricket. Can we honestly say that we would?

Any counties that are not chosen will inevitably lose their better players to those that are. The process has already started – Salt, Brown, Jordan, Evans, Briggs. And it will not be long until Haines, Garton, Robinson, Archer and anyone rated as having a top class future join them.

We are somewhere down the self feeding – self starving may be a better expression – spiral of mediocrity. Second class status will mean lesser funding – either by the ECB or by sponsors or falling membership and attendances – meaning that it will be impossible to attract or retain better players.

And you can’t blame them. If you have aspirations to play for England, why would you appear in an environment that does not properly test you and showcase your abilities?

Is it too late to halt the downward spiral? Probably – but if there is an answer it is not a “jam tomorrow” 5 year plan.

It’s not shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. It’s shutting the stable door after the stable no longer exists.

It really is time for some supporters to take their heads out of the sand and face reality.

Like many I have really suffered watching the steady decline of Sussex since 2015 when the Club was relegated to Division 2 and a few months later Mark Robinson was asked to stand aside as Coach by Zac Toumazi. A year earlier Ed Joyce was scoring runs for fun and Sussex came third in Division 1 after a heroic performance by Robbo and the players, when the side cantered up the table in the latter stages of the competition from a potential relegation battle. I remember feeling so proud of the team and being a Sussex supporter, while eating an excellent three course dinner at the end of season Players' Awards Night. (Remember them?) Agreed, the club reached the T20 Final in 2018 under Gillespie, but after a decade of success in the noughties this once top and proud club has crashed down to the bowels of the 18 county pile.

Meanwhile, Robbo went on to win the World Cup with the England women's side, picking up an OBE along the way, and last year took Warwickshire to being crowned County Champions, the club's first trophy since 2012. All along, the Sussex slump continues and South Coast supporters agonise and suffer. It is heartbreaking to watch and experience.

And now our most recent CEO who came with a shiny rugby CV, has chosen to take the cricket club on what some might view as a suicidal path, hoping above all hope, that a group of home-grown youngsters can bring back the glory days again. This risk is little different to going all in on a pair of tens in a poker tournament. 

Surely, regular and ongoing improvement, both mentally and skill-wise, is necessary to keep supporters onside. Alongside Haines, Orr is looking a promising bat and we now have a decent opening pair. That can be celebrated. Clark showed promise in the last game. Yet, injuries amongst youngsters are common-place, especially with seam bowlers, where some never make it through. Alongside this, both management and coaching decisions continue to fall flat on their face. The Gillespie experiment failed. The Travis Head decision failed. And even when a decent player comes along like Archer or Robinson, they get snaffled up by England.

Agreed, Pujara "should" make a difference to the team's Championship performance, although the previous choice of Head proved an embarrassing fiasco. Yet, when Robinson returns, we will be lucky to see him in a handful of games before England take his arm. As for Archer, will he ever fully recover from his longterm injury? For his sake, all fingers-crossed.

There is hope and then there is blind devotion. If Andrew does pull off his extraordinary left-field gamble and materialises a magic rabbit from both the sea and cromwell ends, where by 2025 Sussex are back at the top and winning trophies, history might view this as "The Miracle on Eaton Road". For very occasionally, going all in on a pair of tens can win a major poker pot. 

But why take such a risk, when a more balanced, more common sense approach of a few youngsters being gently inserted into a side, alongside already experienced players is, surely, the sensible path? Why this present extreme approach? What is the point of it? Of the 10 or so youngsters presently on show or in the wings, 50% of those, if that, might make it as a longterm professional player.

Why take such a gamble when you don't need to. It makes little sense. As all along supporters continue to become disaffected and lose interest in the club.

Does it come down to money?  We aren’t a test match ground, or a 100 ground, and a dozen youngsters must be cheaper than 2-3 experienced and proven players, though it would appear that overall that is a false economy.

9.50 an hour for working at Ronald's? I should never have left. Although I was forced out for serving a burger topped with my own 'special' sauce. Yum yum.

Sounds like a case of unhealed scars opening up on here. I'll see April out before loading me gun I think. Shouldn't even be playing in April and wouldn't be if I was some ECB big shot. We should start the season with the 50 comp as well, start to finish.

Anyway, this game was lost on an impotent bowling attack as far as I'm concerned. We won several sessions, looked like they were trying hard to survive before my live stream fell off a cliff. They performed better than the SCCC live stream. And if it was England they'd have been done by lunch.

We got more to come. Better have anyway. I believe simply having one of Garton or H-P, never mind Robinson, would have made a big difference. 500 odd from 50-4? No chance.