Division Two Hoves into view. 

The Build Up. 

I had been looking forward to this game for weeks , having seen very little cricket due to the weather and other commitments whilst on holiday these last three weeks . I travelled down by car on a route well known to me, just like being back at work already, in fact I had to stop myself from pulling off the M23 at Pease Pottage for a tachograph break! Light drizzle as I entered West Sussex but not the deluge promised by the Weather centre. Hove looked very green but with the amount of rain they have had this summer that was not a surprise. Parked in the road at the top of the ground on a meter for £3.50 which would allow me to stay there till 2pm Friday, I couldn't see me needing that as any "celebrations" were sure to be rather muted. Being early I took a wander down onto the seafront, grey seas, grey skies and next to no one about in the middle of the afternoon. A seaside town sliding into winter can be a depressing place at times.  

The Food Bit. 

I have been to Hove on many occasions and never used the "Sussex Cricketer" pub outside the main gates. A meal before the game was required so I decided to give it a go. £2.35 for a pint of Walkers"Best bitter in Britain"(unless you live near Chiswick (sorry biased Fullers man speak there )) was most acceptable and the actual ale itself rather fine with a full body. The pub was busy but with lots of staff,clean and the piped music not to loud. It felt like the old times of the 2pm starts in the "Sunday League" where you could get to away grounds for noon , go to a local pub , have a beer and a bite to eat and then go to the game . Early starts and the demands of TV have so much not going for them when it comes to travelling away.The food menu was good and varied, I opted for the grilled lamb chops(3) for £8.95 which duly arrived with a good portion of chips,peas,onion rings and mushrooms. Good flavour to the chops and not too many chips, all in all a very good value meal at the price. With the time getting round to 4pm it was time to go,if it were not for having the car with me I could have quite happily  stayed with another pint of Walkers and a look at the dessert menu  but duty called. 

Ground Stuff.

 £20 to get in on the gate, much better than paying a booking fee and  £2 for a programme( which was a double up for the previous game against Lancashire). The ground has changed little over the years I've been going there with the exception of the eight huge floodlights which were to play their part tonight. Much of it is still open seating and the players pavilion always seems a bit lost, on its own at the end of the main grandstand, the press facilities still look temporary and the corporate marquees all crunched into one small area but they must be doing something right for it to have been this way so long. The family enclosure and "Gold Members" areas would restrict the viewing point of any non member visitor to the area by the scoreboard opposite the sea end or the small open stand as you enter the ground. Catering and loos were ample allowing for the space given over to the Sky Unit trucks and the 40ft trailer for the big screen (with tractor unit attached).A nice friendly ground, stewarding low profile and more than happy to take the MickeyOut of our plight in the division when I showed my card to get into the members area.  

 Game Time. 

Much of the time pre 4.40pm start was filled with stuff happening for Sky, interviews etc, the toss was won by Shaggy who said he was going to have a bat on it, Grizzly ever the diplomat said he would have done the same.Nannes and Henderson were both out marking out their run ups during this time and getting the feel for the slop at Hove. Covers off and Murray Goodwin awarded the Sussex Player of the Month Award it was time to get down to business with the first bluish skies of the day appearing it seemed all those prayers from the Sky Directors Box had worked. 

Middlesex Dig a Hole.

 Those with Sky will have seen it  via TV and numerous replays, those with BBC Radio Sussex or London Internet commentaries will have heard it, those checking MTWD will have read about it but there were a few of us hardened souls from Middlesex there to witness it first hand. We needed something like the 20/20 Finals day performance with the bat (over double the innings per game) and got the same thing we have been getting for most of the season in the one day games of any length. Strauss and Shah gone before The Blacksmith was caught by Yardy, a blazing shot off the middle of that huge bat taken and caught well no more than ten yards from the bat, his hands must still be stinging now.40-3 became 41-4 with the departure of Morgan and the feeling that we had seen this all too often this season began to creep in again. Malan and Scott offered little resistance to the good Sussex bowling. The glue that was Ed Joyce still held it all together at the other end and was joined by Shaggy when the score was 65-6 in the 21st over. The pair then put on 78 for the 7th wicket, playing some fine shots all round the large ground, many (as would happen all evening) that would have gone for four on a dry ground not making it due to the outfield being so slow and the length of the boundaries.Ed reached his 50 off 86 balls with 4x4's and the 50 partnership came up off 72 balls with Shaggy outscoring him 27/21.Ed's straight six off of Kirtley the highlight of his innings and a big over of 15 runs lifted the mood a little. Trying the same sort of shot again next over off the same bowler he was well caught by Goodwin for 64.143-7 was getting close to being a defendable score in the conditions. The fall of the skipper for 45 to Kirtley again saw the end of any real resistance with TSO adding 10 and Murts 7. TSO's idea of trying to whack Sami off the ground worked for a couple of balls going for 4 but the bowler was always going to win with the "you miss I hit " theory seeing Karts stumps all over the South coast a few balls later. That Kirtley sent Murts stumps at the other end the same way with the first ball of the last over really summed up the dominance of the Sussex bowling attack. Luke Wright looks an awesome prospect and his figures of 8 overs ,1 maiden, 3-14 only tell part of the story, the guy was up for it the whole innings and although our boys were on the receiving end it was a pleasure to watch him work . Could we defend 165 under the lights? Time for a Sky ad break and some chat from the pros in the booth and we would find out.20 runs light was the general view of the Sussex folk around me, myself I was offering up the same old prayer this season that the bowlers could dig the batters out of the hole they had created once again. 

Shark Attack!!! 

The queue for the loo was lengthy so I had a leg stretch before joining it, by leaving it late I missed the start of the innings which as many of you will know could only have one result, you've got it, Sussex 1-1 as Nannes has Yardy caught by Strauss. The dangerous Wright went soon after for 6 caught Joyce off Murts and Grizzly was back in his bear cave for the same score bowled by Hendo.35-3, they had started worse than us, was it possible we could pull of a win? Prior continued to play a similar role to Joyce in our innings but fell LBW to TSO for 38 the score being 72-4.Goodwin as ever proceeded on his way without panic or any sense of alarm and when the all guns blazing Smith fell for 25 with the score on Nelson Sussex were 5 down but with just over 50 required to win and a lot of balls left in the innings. Hopkinson joined him in the middle and with no future wickets falling Goodwin reached his 50 of 70 balls with 4x4's before the Sharks finished us off with 3.4 overs to spare. Application by their batsman was the key to their success and good bowling by their six bowlers. That they are at the top end of the division and we are to be relegated having only come up via the play off last season was clear from the displays of both sides. 

In Conclusion.

 The final year of the P40 will be spent in Division 2 making the season next to meaningless for us and the other teams in the division, what type of cricket we will see only time will tell. A good night out all the same in good company which to me is what away games are all about. A shame about the result but at least we tried our hardest to recover the situation we were in at 65-6.End of the season reports wise from me unless the Northants CC game goes to the Saturday and the weather looks good (can it be at the end of September? I'm told we are due an Indian summer). I'd take an Antiguan winter myself all the same . Winter well folks and here's hoping for a better season next year.

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