Vitality Blast (Twenty20) South Division
Sussex won by 4 runs
County Ground, Hove
Admission: £30.00
Programme & Scorecard: Free
I used to be a member at Sussex County Cricket Club throughout the 90's and early 2000's, but I rather bucked the trend and was turned off going to watch county cricket when floodlit, Twenty20 cricket took hold. Not that I do not enjoy that format, but it meant that many more midweek fixtures took place which were difficult for me to get to, and mostly taking away the Sunday afternoons I used to enjoy spending at the County Ground. And as my football groundhopping became ever more prolific and my priority, I have tended to want to use the month of June to save some money and enjoy staying at home and doing other things. But my girlfriend has really wanted to go to watch more cricket, and this fixture was about the only one in Sussex's home Vitality Blast fixtures that was convenient for us. And it is a fixture that will always mean quite a lot to me, with Kent being the county of my birth, where I was educated and spent a substantial chunk of my working life in, whilst Sussex is where I have spent the vast majority of my life living in.
I believe that today would be my first visit to the County Ground since 2009, and it was interesting to note that there have been some major changes to the place, although pleasingly much remained the same as well. The first thing to notice was that the Sussex Cricketer pub, located outside of the main gates on the entrance road, was demolished in 2020, and the construction of yet another new block of flats is currently being constructed in its place. The previous entrance gates and turnstiles built into a brick wall has been removed, and after having our pre-purchased tickets scanned, there are plenty of freebie giveaways for spectators, including scorecards, a very basic fold out programme, a booklet celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Vitality Blast competition, and some colourful hats. A row of retail outlets, including a cafe, club offices and club shop are located along the rear of what has been the most significant upgrade to the ground in the all-seater stand located in the south west corner of the ground, opened in 2011. It certainly is a big upgrade on the much smaller uncovered bank of seating which used to occupy this part of the ground, offering decent elevated and unobstructed views, and with a roof which only covers the back couple of rows. The Arthur Gilligan Stand has also been replaced with a more modern structure, not dissimilar in size and it is pleasing to note it still offers excellent elevated views from behind the bowler. Delightfully, the pavilion buildings remains virtually unchanged, on the outside at least, and is a pleasing reminder of past times of cricket. The much newer square block, opened in 2003, lies just to the north pf the pavilion buildings, including the player's changing rooms as well as an indoor school. The north end of the ground has several temporary uncovered stands, although outside of the Vitality Blast competition, wooden benches and deck chairs are available to sit on the grass banking. And on the remaining, east side of the ground, the old scoreboard now has a big electronic screen placed in front of it, with the permanent hospitality brick units still in place, but with more modern facilities now installed either side.
Both Sussex and Kent had successful Vitality Blast campaigns last year, both reaching Finals Day, with Kent beating Sussex in the semi-final before beating Somerset in the final in the afternoon. So it is quite surprising that both counties came into this match with a record of played two, lost two, Sussex losing at home to Glamorgan by 7 wickets before losing away at Gloucestershire by 41 runs. In a repeat of last year's final, Somerset gained some revenge on Kent with a 8 wicket victory at Canterbury, where Kent also lost by 4 wickets against Essex.
On a mostly cloudy but occasionally sunny afternoon, Kent won the toss and invited Sussex to bat first. The Sharks started slowly if unspectacularly, only scoring 31 runs from the opening powerplay, and at the halfway point, had only progressed to 66 runs, for the loss of two wickets, and a lack of boundaries and steady loss of wickets really hampering their progress. Veteran opener Luke Wright scored 43, but was dismissed in the 13th over, leaving Sussex at 90 for 4. But in the end, it was mostly down to Tom Alsop, on loan for the season from Hampshire and was only a last minute replacement for this game, showed plenty of good intent and injected some momentum into Sussex's final overs, picking up 63 runs from their last four overs, with Alsop top scoring on 65, to ensure that Kent were set a decent and defendable target of 171 runs, achieved with the loss of five wickets.
Kent got off to a poor start, losing both openers, including England player Zac Crawley, in the first two overs And whilst they then steadied the ship, Sam Billings showing promise, hitting three fours from the five deliveries following Crawley's dismissal, they never seemed to get going sufficiently and fell further and further behind the required run rate. After Joe Denly was dismissed in the 11th over, the players went off the field as rain fell, and when they came back out, they never looked likely to secure the win, although some good hitting in the closing overs ensured that the final margin was much narrower than had looked likely a few overs previously.
This was an enjoyable afternoon out, but I fear that County Twenty20 may now be on the decline now. Partly due to the ECB seeming to do everything possible to make any form of county cricket as unappealing and inconvenient as possible in favour of the Frankenstein Hundred tournament, shunting the Twenty20 away from the summer holiday season, and also the counties are not helping themselves with overpricing their tickets. £30 was far too much for a game, and will almost certainly mean that today’s game was a one-off for me rather than a more regular event, and that price became £35 if tickets were bought on the day of the game. A half empty Hove would have been unthinkable pre Covid, but a combination of factors mean I can only see the situation worsening in the years to come.
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