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Post by Wicked Cricket on May 22, 2022 7:33:51 GMT
Thanks for stepping in Mod.
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Post by longstop on May 23, 2022 20:15:52 GMT
Some posts have been moved to the Off Topic section
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jun 8, 2022 15:04:28 GMT
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jun 9, 2022 11:13:42 GMT
Having listened a second time to the interview above, one aspect really sticks out. The Club and money.
When I first interviewed Rob Andrew back in 2017, he commented then how surprised he was by the Club's financial situation. He had quickly realised that without the Spen Cama windfall would Sussex CCC still be in existence? I sensed finances are very important to him and later when Covid struck, this concern must have increased.
Perhaps, it is his Yorkshire nature?
Yet, compared with other counties, while Sussex may attract a lot less money to its coffers than the TMGs, for example, the Club remains debt-free. An unusual situation, but a great strength for any business, at present. Interest rates have remained very low for a considerable length time, thus encouraging other counties to borrow.
Agreed, in some cases, certain TMGs are heaving under debt where the Covid pandemic and ensuing lockdown only worsened the situation, but what has been made clear by the ECB, is their determination to keep 18 counties whatever the financial burden. If not, Durham wouldn't be in existence today.
My point being: Is money at the root of Andrew's decision to focus on the youngsters while allowing the top players to leave? I would imagine the Club salary bill has at least halved in recent years. He seems not concerned by the outcome, as in the April interview he believes the T20 will continue to attract full houses and the club to challenge for the QFs and beyond. Recent evidence suggests not. Even Championship Membership he reckons remains at a similar number to previous years.
Here lies the crux.
His financial caution has influenced, some might say, a radical solution, even a short-term destruction of the Club, when it is not required. In so doing, the Club is a ghost of itself from even a few years ago under the Gillespie helm. Where is the balance between financial caution and taking a massive gamble on the youngsters? He says Sussex has "a crop of very young and talented players." Sadly, some of them have long-term injuries and been on the sidelines this season.
A 5-year plan allows Andrew some breathing space, but he is not stupid. If by the end of 2024 the signs are, it is not working out, then what? Step down and allow someone else to pick up the bits and pieces, where the Club has gone through a highly destructive experiment that was never required in the first place? The irony is, while financially prudent and very cautious, Andrew is taking one of the greatest gambles in Sussex CCC history.
Some sensible borrowing at low interest rates can help a club go a long way.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jun 10, 2022 9:30:56 GMT
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jun 12, 2022 9:13:21 GMT
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Post by liquidskin on Jun 12, 2022 9:59:44 GMT
You reported the fire two years before it happened? Insurance job.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jun 12, 2022 11:00:11 GMT
The situation at Hove must be really bad if the Club's media stalwart, Bruce Talbot, finally loses his rag and goes full-scale ballistic. Bruce is a laid-back, enduring guy who not only holds a number of Club skeletons from the many years he has written about Sussex, but at times has shown a loyalty that might test even the most acquiescent of people. He has overseen all the Club's ups and downs since the early 1990s. Yet, Bruce has a breaking-point and the T20 game against Gloucestershire on Friday, appears to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Writing for the Brighton and Hove News there is nothing to hold him back. Here goes: Sussex were 118 for two in the 14th over with Tom Alsop playing superbly and Fynn Hudson-Prentice offering good support. They had put on 69 together with few alarms. So far so comfortable.
I can only describe what happened in the next half hour as the most embarrassing collective brain-fade I have seen from a Sussex side in more than 30 years reporting on the county, as eight wickets fall for just 23 runs in 37 balls of witless batting.
All (they) had to do was knock it into the gaps and run singles and twos. Easy. Instead, the rest of the batsmen – with the honourable exception of 17-year-old Archie Lenham – seemed to indulge in a competition to see who could get out in the most crass way. It was a display which would have shamed Sussex’s under-11s... In football terms, Sussex had been 4-1 up with 15 minutes to go and lost 5-4.
...Friday was the first sell-out of the season incidentally – don’t necessarily go to immerse themselves in the nuances of the game. They want to see the ball disappearing into the stands, the orange stumps light up and spectacular fielding.
For a lot of them, I suspect that the inquest into Sussex’s ignominious collapse would have concluded by the time they reached the first set of traffic lights on the way home.
Others, though, see it as another example of the slow but steady decline that has been going on at Hove for a few years now and which shows no sign of ending.
To his credit, Bopara pulled no punches afterwards, describing it as the worst performance he’d seen in more than 400 T20 games.
You get the picture and there is still more to come. Read the article. Thank you Bruce for airing your true feelings. Many people agree with you. For him, it must be a re-run of 1995/96. www.brightonandhovenews.org/2022/06/11/bruce-on-the-boundary-players-must-shoulder-blame-for-debacle-at-hove/
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Post by liquidskin on Jun 12, 2022 12:14:20 GMT
Everyone can see the decline, I've only heard one person deny it and that's the real Gordy. But he might be a doppelganger, I'm not sure. What is sure is Andrew & the highly incompetent Greenfield are killing the club. The quality of our youth is the only thing holding us above the water right now.
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Post by ashingtonmartlet on Jun 15, 2022 16:03:10 GMT
The situation at Hove must be really bad if the Club's media stalwart, Bruce Talbot, finally loses his rag and goes full-scale ballistic. Bruce is a laid-back, enduring guy who not only holds a number of Club skeletons from the many years he has written about Sussex, but at times has shown a loyalty that might test even the most acquiescent of people. He has overseen all the Club's ups and downs since the early 1990s. Yet, Bruce has a breaking-point and the T20 game against Gloucestershire on Friday, appears to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Writing for the Brighton and Hove News there is nothing to hold him back. Here goes: Sussex were 118 for two in the 14th over with Tom Alsop playing superbly and Fynn Hudson-Prentice offering good support. They had put on 69 together with few alarms. So far so comfortable.
I can only describe what happened in the next half hour as the most embarrassing collective brain-fade I have seen from a Sussex side in more than 30 years reporting on the county, as eight wickets fall for just 23 runs in 37 balls of witless batting.
All (they) had to do was knock it into the gaps and run singles and twos. Easy. Instead, the rest of the batsmen – with the honourable exception of 17-year-old Archie Lenham – seemed to indulge in a competition to see who could get out in the most crass way. It was a display which would have shamed Sussex’s under-11s... In football terms, Sussex had been 4-1 up with 15 minutes to go and lost 5-4.
...Friday was the first sell-out of the season incidentally – don’t necessarily go to immerse themselves in the nuances of the game. They want to see the ball disappearing into the stands, the orange stumps light up and spectacular fielding.
For a lot of them, I suspect that the inquest into Sussex’s ignominious collapse would have concluded by the time they reached the first set of traffic lights on the way home.
Others, though, see it as another example of the slow but steady decline that has been going on at Hove for a few years now and which shows no sign of ending.
To his credit, Bopara pulled no punches afterwards, describing it as the worst performance he’d seen in more than 400 T20 games.
You get the picture and there is still more to come. Read the article. Thank you Bruce for airing your true feelings. Many people agree with you. For him, it must be a re-run of 1995/96. www.brightonandhovenews.org/2022/06/11/bruce-on-the-boundary-players-must-shoulder-blame-for-debacle-at-hove/1996/7.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jun 20, 2022 21:09:47 GMT
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jul 1, 2022 10:10:15 GMT
As we have been waiting 19 matches and almost 2 years for a Championship win, it is of no surprise the local media has been celebrating like it's 1999. Let's be honest the "extraordinary, unexpected and dramatic" win on Wednesday took everyone by surprise, not least the Sussex supporters, who were dreading yet another loss after the side required 342 runs to win on the final fourth day. All the odds were stacked against Sussex. Certainly, Derbyshire believed so and why no enforced follow-on. The hero of the day was Ali Orr striking his highest 1st class score of 141 and when coupled with Rizwan's expected and assured 75* combined with Alsop's 55, it all seemed so simple and reminded one of the halcyon days when messers Goodwin and Adams would hold the fort and regularly bring the side home. Of course, Ali Orr is a godsend to all sub-editors looking for that cute headline. The Argus chose Orr-Inspiring, it could just as easily have been Orr-Struck 141. As wins have been as rare as hens' teeth in recent years, enjoy reading the Argus reports below. I note Bruce Talbot had a say in the second article. He must have enjoyed the win more than most.
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Post by philh on Jul 1, 2022 14:35:59 GMT
Of course, Ali Orr is a godsend to all sub-editors looking for that cute headline. The Argus chose Orr-Inspiring, it could just as easily have been Orr-Struck 141. Orr, no better alternative would be a better headline, I feel.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Jul 1, 2022 15:44:23 GMT
Orr "Nothing is impossible!"
As I said a sub-editors dream surname.
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Post by liquidskin on Jul 1, 2022 19:19:02 GMT
You're both sacked. Orr-some. Space is key.
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