I can't understand why Sussex didn't enforce the follow-on. 164 all out in their 2nd innings. Hants 181-4 at the close. Hants need another 197 or Sussex need 6 wickets. It all depends on how well the Hampshire tail can wag.
Olly is still there.! You have a good team there in Sussex. Perhaps you need that class spinner a la Mushtaq to guide you from being a top 4 team to a Championship winning one!! Plus you have Joyce who has gone up a level at Sussex. Does playing for Middlesex chokes players.? .
It's a good team, but no 2003-2009 side, they were almost unbeatable. The catalyst for Sussex and their success was Dominic Cork of all people, he led a particularly nasty dressing room revolt against Chris Adams at Derby, who came to us and along with Peter Moores, who took over as coach after retiring as a player for Sussex, revolutionised not only Sussex but county cricket in general. Sides used to arrive at Hove to find Sussex already out in the middle practising their drills etc; and often the match was won even before it had begun. Having Mushtaq Ahmed helped a bit too!
In the end a fairly comfortable win for Sussex despite their efforts to let Hampshire back into it. Lots of positives for Hampshire to take away from the game though so stay upbeat you hogs!
Jackson Bird and Andre Adams? I would have liked to have seen Bird but Adams for me hasn't got the legs to be considered a strike bowler anymore. Wood looks a bright prospect and he can bat too which is always a bonus. If Jordan does well for England in the WI we won't see him again at Sussex for this season probably.
Middlesex managed to bore their way to a draw!! It will be painful viewing that team!! The whole club needs a shakeout. Probably held badly by a committee that is deeply conservative in its attitude to the modern game. No real batsmen there to take apart an attack in the one day games, and a lack of a match-winning spinner for the 4 day game. It indicates another season of mediocrity.
Impossible not to keep an eye out for my birth county and how they are doing.....and got to meet Greenidge & Andy Roberts briefly as a kid - one of them had a relative who lived in our road and they stopped in the street and chatted to a few of us who knocking a tennis ball about - they were very chatty and thoroughly nice blokes. I wasn't a huge cricket fan as a kid but my mate was and he was pretty star struck. Also have a soft spot for Glamorgan and watch out for them too. Very fond of 20-20 I know it's not pure but it is a great watch.
See that Hampshire have just signed up a bit earlier, West Indian fast bowler Fidel Edwards to replace the crocked Jackson Bird.
He had a great afternoon Woops, decimating the Sussex top order, also great batting from Wheater and Berg in the morning. It's looking very much like Hants' first win of the season with plenty of time left in the match. (You didn't think that we would let this day go without comment, did you, Meowth?)...
Yes it was certainly Hampshire's day today. I can only hope that Nasher and Luke can build a big score tomorrow, but it's Hampshire's game to lose.
Well played Hampshire, Sussex yet again start the season well then fall apart. Oh well at least the Arundel festival is nearly upon us.
