CREATING A PASSION FOR CRICKET

Iattended the first day of a County Championship match as a new junior member with my brothers, Andrew and Christopher, and my dad, William, who had just been appointed as the Vicar of Bishop Hannington Church in Holmes Avenue, Hove. The Sussex team included three great players who were to become my heroes: Tony Greig, Jim Parks and John Snow. I fell in love with the place and the people instantly. Fifty-one years later it is a huge privilege to have been elected Chair of Sussex Cricket.

I would like to start my first contribution to the yearbook, by paying tribute to my predecessor Bob Warren for his service as Chair through some of the most difficult years in our history. Thanks to Bob’s stewardship and financial prudence we have emerged from the pandemic in a strong position financially and with much to look forward to in all aspects of Sussex cricket.

The progress that we are making as an organisation is symbolised by the magnificent Tate Residences that have replaced the pub I used to wait patiently outside for to get autographs of my heroes. It will now greet all visitors as they arrive at the main gates at the sea end of The 1st Central County Ground. The new Sussex Cricketers pub on the ground floor will open its doors in early April and all 37 flats, which have been sold off plan, will be occupied by the time the 2023 season starts.

It is such an important project for Sussex Cricket with long term annual financial benefits of around £350,000 deriving from rental income from the pub and two floors of commercial offices.

My huge thanks go to Simon Crundwell and Rob Andrew who have led this work and to Ben Cheal of our partners, Roffey Homes, who have ensured that the project has completed to time and within budget despite the most difficult of circumstances caused by Covid restrictions in the early part and material supply and escalating prices as the work was nearing completion.

The new Chair of the ECB, Richard Thompson, has set out a vision for making cricket the most inclusive sport in the country and this is an ambition that we in Sussex share. It is pleasing to report that during the winter we have installed a Contemplation Room at Hove and an alcohol-free family stand with the aim of helping to make The 1st Central County Ground a more inclusive venue.

Our player pathway continues to provide opportunity for boys and girls across Sussex to aspire to the dream of professional careers and our partnership with the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy offers the opportunity for 50 state-school pupils to receive a cricketing education which is the equivalent of any available in the private sector.

I am pleased to be able to report that our Board is now compliant with Sport England and ECB requirements on diversity of membership. We must, and will, use the publication of the Independent Commission into Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report as an opportunity to make lasting change to cricket in Sussex and to ensure that we indeed make our sport the most inclusive sport in the county.

The performance of the men’s first team has been the subject of much comment and with just one win in the County Championship last season and failure to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast results have continued to be disappointing. However, the depth of our young talent in all disciplines of the game means that there is much cause for optimism. Jack Carson and Tom Haines were selected for England Lions this winter, whilst James Coles, Bertie Foreman, Danial Ibrahim, Archie Lenham and Charlie Tear were all picked for the Young Lions tour of Australia. They will have returned enriched by their experiences and determined to develop their careers and win matches for Sussex.

I am delighted to welcome Paul Farbrace as our new Head Coach. Immediately after his appointment, Paul made it clear that we need to stop talking about “potential” and starting to talk about “performance”. We will all watch with hope and expectation that our exciting, young, locally developed team will start winning matches with the aim of competing for silverware in the years ahead and with the ambition, as individuals, of following in the footsteps of Sussex teammates Jofra Archer, George Garton, Tymal Mills and Ollie Robinson in representing England at the highest level.

All of our home 2nd XI games will be played at either Blackstone, Horsham or Hove and it is pleasing that this year very few of the fixtures clash with 1st XI matches which means that many of you will be able to watch some excellent cricket played by our talented young players fighting for places in the first team. I know that you will receive a particularly warm welcome at Horsham and hope that many will take the opportunity to again enjoy cricket at this most special ground.

Women’s cricket is the fastest growing sport in the country and 2023 is a landmark year in Sussex because we will be launching the first ever Women’s Cricket League which will have a premier division of five clubs and a second division of ten teams. We confidently expect this to grow in the years ahead but hope that all the women and girls who get to play league cricket will hugely enjoy it and have the opportunity to develop their skills.

The talent pathway in Sussex continues to develop international cricketers with Freya Kemp from Fletching recently joining Freya Davies in the England team. At The 1st Central County Ground, we have plenty of top quality women’s cricket to look forward to as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first ever women’s ODI which was played at Hove on 23 June 1973 when England beat an International XI by nine wickets in the first match of the inaugural World Cup. England play Sri Lanka in an ODI at Hove on Sunday September 15 and the Southern Vipers will play three home matches at Hove.

The recreational game in Sussex continues to prosper and our men’s league will again see an increase in the number of teams and divisions this season when over 370 teams will play in 38 divisions across the county. The connection between the professional and recreational game has never been stronger with so many of our men’s first team having started at clubs across the county. My thanks are due to Gary Stanley and his outstanding team of volunteers who run the league and continue to enable us to buck national trends by growing the quantity and quality of league cricket played in the county. The Sussex Slam competitions also continue to grow and provide a great opportunity for people to enjoy playing midweek cricket during the long summer evenings. Many people have been able to enjoy playing competitive cricket for the first time as a result of this competition and I am sure this summer will see many more first-time cricketers enjoying the game. Our Community Cricket department under the exceptional leadership of Gary Wallis-Tayler delivers a range of programmes both to encourage participation in cricket and to enhance people’s lives through the power of cricket. The undoubted highlight of the programme is DIScoverABILITY Day on 11 May at The 1st Central County Ground. Last year over 600 children and young people came from all over Sussex to enjoy a wide variety of cricket activities and fun. We are expecting the same again this year and anybody who would like to volunteer can contact Gary for more details.

Another important date for the diary is the D40 match at Hove on Sunday 18 June. Last year we became the first county to host a disability cricket match at our home ground and were rewarded with the most amazing innings of 161 by Alfie Pyle who became the first player to score a century in an ECB D40 match. A crowd of over 300 enjoyed Alfie’s innings and a Sussex win over Surrey by 118 runs. Will history repeat itself? Come to Hove on 18 June to find out!

Our network of Sporting Memories groups meets each week across the county and provides the opportunity for older folk who may struggle with dementia or loneliness to meet together with our wonderful team of volunteers. This year will see us add a second weekly meeting in Hove and a new group in Crowborough bringing the number in the county to ten. At the opposite end of the age spectrum our community cricket coaches will deliver coaching to over 20,000 children in junior schools around the county with funding provided by Chance to Shine. Over 3,000 will attend the weekly All Stars and Dynamos programmes delivered at clubs around the county, 369 junior club teams will compete in leagues and four disability cricket hubs will be run across the county to enable everybody to enjoy the chance to play cricket.

On your visits to Hove you might also enjoy calling in to the museum where our group of volunteers continue to preserve and display the Sussex Cricket Museum and Educational Trust’s outstanding collection of Sussex-related cricket memorabilia. Look out for a recently restored oil painting of Arthur Hyde who was a predecessor of Archie Lenham, Ollie Carter, Henry Crocombe, Ali Orr and Delray Rawlins at Eastbourne Cricket Club in the 1870s.

Sussex Cricket exists to create passion for cricket. I hope that you will all enjoy your visits to Hove watching our exciting young team and will also take the opportunity to engage with the game in your local community as we seek to win matches and make cricket the most inclusive sport in the county.