The Wicked Cricket Column

I know what howard is saying. There is a lot of 'management airspeak' in there - but then show me someone 'on the up' not only in cricket but in any walk of life in 2015 who hasn't been brainwashed into believing that in order to be taken seriously they have to spout meaningless 'airspeak', thus showing that management is not intuitive or even a case of common-sense thoughtfully applied, but is a scientific discipline filled with empirical rigour.

But at least Davis seems to have a degree of self-awareness and he isn't consumed with the hubris, moodiness and blinkered self-importance that derailed the last bloke.

The fact that he and Luke start together is very positive and means that the leadership can be far more collective than it was under the previous incumbent. There were credibly-sourced rumours that Wright only accepted the captaincy and turned down a higher salary and an immediate return to Div One with Surrey on the condition that he wouldn't have to work with Robinson.

When I was in the lobby at Westminster I reported stories every day with the phrase 'sources close to the government...'!

At least two of the regular contributors on here know the source and can corroborate its credibility.

But the important thing is that Robinson has gone and every indication is that there is a new and more constructive mood around the club, if not within the Inner Circle.

maybe not the one you wanted?

I'll give him a go, S and F, but has he not been in the exact same post for some time now?

Succinctly and wryly put, Flashblade.

I'm utterly confused. The facts have dribbled out in piecemeal and sometimes contradictory fashion. Someone who follows it all more closely than me can correct anything that I've got wrong but these are the ten  'facts' as I think we understand them:-

1. Toumasi and Robinson spend 18 months conducting a strategic review of the cricket structure.

2. A few  months into that review, Robinson begins looking for an exit and applies for another job. He doesn't get it but several months later,  he put himself back on the market and this time lands the job.

3. Toumasi says it is  "well known" that if Robinson had stayed it would have been in a different job. Everyone assumes this means as director of cricket, although I'm not sure that has ever been spelt out?

4. Meanwhile,Luke Wright is offered the captaincy. He takes  his time before accepting, reportedly weighing it against a better-paid offer from Surrey. Before he accepts  he also reportedly seeks  clarification, not unreasonably, about who he will be working with as Professional Cricket Manager, DoC, head coach or whatever the job titles are going to be after the Robinson/Toumasi 18 month strategic review.

5. Robinson fails to attend a key meeting  and leaves Davis to answer members' questions about the playing side. When it is suggsted his absence might be connected to his  application for another job, this is vehemently denied by the chairman (who subsequently admits he  was in the dark  that Robinson was looking for an exit).

6. Robinson's departure is announced to the surprise of nobody but the chairman and there is an immediate announcement that Davis is replacing him, although Sussex has not conducted any kind of application process.

7. On closer scrutiny it emerges that Davis has not replaced Robinson as Professional Cricket Manager and will keep the same job title he has had for several years. There is no announcement about what will happen to the post of Professional Cricket Manager.

8. Sussex advertises for a  batting coach - a position which Robinson has maintained throughout the 18 month review is quite unecessary and, according to reports on this website,  has incorrectly  told a members meeting is a position that doesn't exist anywhere else in county cricket.

9. Comments from Davis and Toumasi seem to hint that Sussex is looking to recruit a director of cricket, a role that may have wider responsibilities for the women's game, the disabled game and recreational cricket. No job advert has yet appeared, although according to the ECB jobs in cricket website, Sussex are advertising  not only for a batting coach but also a Cricket Development Officer, an  Education and Employability Manager and a  Welfare Officer as well as two sport science interns and two team analyst interns.

10. What happens next as the result of the protracted 18 month strategic review remains shrouded in mystery.

A good list borderman, and just to add to your points 8 and 9 - and perhaps that in turn supports your comments on No 10 - the Batting and Second XI Coach Job Specification identifies that the successful candidate will be "... working with the Academy Director to ensure continuity within the player pathway"

So would that Academy Director be Keith Greenfield, listed on the coaching page of the website as Cricket Performance Manager, or the new Director of Sussex Cricket (who may or may not be Keith Greenfield) or do any of these titles even matter since there is no consistency in applying them and they seem to be swapped around whenever it suits?

Incidentally the coaching page has still not been updated and still shows Mark Robinson with all his details intact: perhaps they are preparing us for a Dallas type "it was all a dream" plotline, with Robinson strolling out of the shower on April 5th.