Sussex v Sri Lanka

Sussex B team? Eight or nine of them could be starters on Friday

Judging Sussex on the result would indeed be harsh, they are the world champions, but the manner of the defeat was a little disturbing.

Agreed. His aggressive 63 was exactly half our total score. The only other innings of note was a modest 14 n.o. off 10 balls from Zaidi. He certainly looked more confident than he has done. 

So  to pick up on the theme in another thread about the wisdom or folly of the new Friday night T20 boozalot league,   one thousand  more people turned out to watch a t20  game on a weekend afterrnoon in Hove than did so on Friday night?

This backs up the overwhelming trend of the first weekend of the T20 Bash - poor crowds  across the country on Friday night,  but 13,500 at Lord's  on Sat afternoon, a sell-out at Taunton on Sunday afternoon and a bumper crowd for a one-off T20 at Hove today that exceeded the attendance at the same venue on Friday night by perhaps 20 per cent.

I'm not sure why you are so convinced the ECB has found the golden bullet  that will save county cricket in rowdy, boozy flood-lit Friday nights for the T20 with Saturday as a day of rest  and near empty stadia for the LVCC on  Sundays.  It seems utter folly to me, and I said so when the plan was first announced. But perhaps it isn't about the attendance figures at all, and more to do  with the money drunken Friday night  crowds spend at the bar, even if there are fewer of them than the broader spectrum  who would attend if such matches were played at weekends?

By the way, as more info trickles out about Friday night's attendances, the greater the fear grows that the ECB were  led up a cul de sac by their wretched focus groups.  Durham have revealed that there were just 2,633 souls in their ground on Friday night , more than 50 per cent  down on  their average attendance of 5,433 at their home T20s in 2013. 

That Test match grounds such as Headingley, the Ageas Bowl and the Riverside are recording Friday night T20 crowds that are  dramatically down on 2013 will be a real concern to the ECB  - especially as they have pledged there will be no alteration to the programme before 2017 at the earliest, even if it  all proves to be a terrible mistake. By then it may be too late.

Meanwhile, you say "the club got a financial boost" today. Well, a short-term one for sure and welcome. But will the extra  1000 who apparently came today turn up again after witnessing a game that barely lasted as long as a queue in Cafe Pasticci?

One belated thought about yesterday's match; when it was clear that our bowlers were struggling, why didn't Yardy put himself on? He is a very experienced T20 cricketer, and was in the England team that beat Sri Lanka in a World T20 final!

Interesting point, grandavefan - "A marketing disaster! How to woo new spectators into Hove! Make sure you don't see the best T20 team in the world play the whole match!

It will take a lot for me to come along again to be short changed.

Should there be joined up thinking between the commercial and cricket departments?

Should Yardy have bowled first, so as to maximise the entertainment? If he's not bothered by the entertainment factor, then are the marketing boys wasting their time?

This is the reaction I feared from many of the  additional 1000 spectators who turned up on Sunday. All very well  s&f hailing a bumper pay day for the club but not good for the future if  potential new supporters felt short-changed by a game that only lasted 29 overs and are deterred from returning.