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ADRIAN HARMS, OF BBC SUSSEX
TEN YEARS
BEHIND THE MICROPHONE A new season, a fresh start and feelings in equal measure of expectation, anticipation and some trepidation as Sussex embark on another chapter in its long history.
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ussex should be applauded for their strategy of giving young players an opportunity: it’s all too easy to wave the cheque book and attract top players from other counties. However, there is no question that last season matches were lost, in part, due to the collective lack of experience in the side. The low point of the season was undoubtedly the defeat by an innings inside three days at Leicester. The average age of the side in that game was 21, including four teenagers, but it would be wrong to be critical of players who were unquestionably trying their hardest. However, in the main they were overwhelmed by the match situation as Leicestershire smelt blood on the final day and wouldn’t let go. This was Championship cricket at its most brutal, and the hope will be that the players will remember the sound of the Leicestershire players loudly celebrating in their dressing room as they trudged silently back to the coach to start the long trip back to Sussex. That’s not to say the season was all doom and gloom. Those who made the journey to Sedbergh for the 50-over game against Lancashire were reward with a beautiful day, at the most picturesque ground I’ve ever been too. It was stunning! The performances of Tom Haines, Daniel Ibrahim, Ali Orr and Archie Lenham lifted the spirits considerably, as did Luke Wright and his T20 side even if they couldn’t quite make go all the way in the competition. I was particularly pleased for Tom. There have been times in the last couple of years when his game had looked out of sorts, and after his first century of the season at Old Trafford he said that at times he had almost fallen out of love with cricket. For Tom to finish the season as the highest run scorer in the Championship was a magnificent achievement, and testimony to his hard work and determination.
Of the crop of young players who emerged during the summer Ibrahim was the most impressive. Batting on debut against Yorkshire at Headlingley with Sussex in desperate trouble, he looked totally unfazed and became the youngest player in the history of the Championship to score a half-century. The record books should have been rewritten again at Worcester in September when Danial was just six runs away from becoming the youngest ever centurion in the Championship. However, the chase for quick runs to enable a declaration meant that record stayed intact for another day. Unquestionably the performance of the season came in Cardiff in April, when Ollie Robinson bowled Sussex to victory. His figures of 9/78 in the second innings and 13/128 the match tell the story, He was simply magnificent on a flat deck offering little or no assistance. The exciting signings of Cheteshwar Pujara, Josh Philippe and Mohammad Rizwan bring much needed experience and quality to the squad. Rizwan is an exciting cricketer who I’m really looking forward to commentating on. If he can produce his current form across all formats, it could be a very exciting first half of the summer. The departures of Phil Salt and Chris Jordan are unquestionably big blows for the club, but the loss of Ben Brown was perhaps the biggest disappointment. Ben’s first-class record speaks for itself, and it’s a great shame that he won’t be adding to that record in a Sussex shirt. On a personal level this will be my tenth season commentating on Sussex for the BBC. I remind myself every day that’s a huge privilege. My journey began at a freezing cold Aigburth in April 2012 when Steve Magoffin took 9/55 on debut, and Sussex rolled over defending champions Lancashire inside three days. Those were heady days, and who knows maybe this is the season when the Sussex Championship
