Sussex Sharks Bite
Sussex Sharks won their first T20 Blast game at home over Glamorgan in Hove in some style with a hat trick from Tymal Mills in the final over. A few weeks ago Jefra Archer did the same at Lords against Middlesex. We are now in the business end of the T20 and, with quarter final places assured to Gloucestershire and Somerset, Sussex went into this game needing to win it and at least one over Gloucestershire next Thursday and Middlesex at Hove on Friday.
Sussex set a satisfactory but not necessarily winning total of 186 in their innings. Once again Laurie Evans was the star of the show hitting one six into our area and breaking a window.
See here for a link to the BBC Sports website – SUSSEX SHARKS
Tom Bruce the Kiwi failed yet again with the bat. When Glamorgan in reply were 50 without loss, they were very much in the box seat.
Once again I was exasperated by the late arrival of Afghan leggie Rashid Khan into the attack.
When he was given the ball he did what he has always done – take a wicket in the first over – and then returned figures of 9-3. He can bowl at 60mph and is hard to read or put away.
He stopped the rot and in the end Sussex won by a comfortable 88 runs. He is going to follow Mushtaq Ahmed into Sussex lore and looks every bit as lethal as other subcontinent spinning greats like Bedi, Murilithanan and Ashwin.
I am beginning to warm to the T20.
It was balmy night at Hove, good company to be found – the sports editor of The Observer was guest of a member and interesting on the golden era of sports journalism. His paper numbered Hugh McIlvanney, Richard Baerlein and Peter Dobereiner as correspondents, each a master in their respective fields of football, horse racing and golf.
Another member of our club is a solicitor and leading authority on leasehold enfranchisement, though frequently asked for his opinion on the Ben Stokes acquittal.
Personally I did not think a jury would ever convict a sport star but the solicitor explained how the defence blurred the lines till it wasn’t clear what happened, who started it, the degree of violence or provocation. A clever advocate would not find Stokes’ defence difficult. I still wonder what he was doing at 2am outside a night club. The disastrous Ashes in Australia was also marred by late night drinking outside the hotel too. This has to stop.
Still I was happier contemplating Sussex chances in the T20. No one would enjoy facing our attack and being drawn away in the quarter against a northern side will not deter us as most of our points have been obtained on the road.
