Sussex CCC v Gloucestershire / day night game
Yesterday I went to the first day of the Championship match between Sussex and Gloucestershire – all of the 4 day cricket games began at 2pm and played with a pink ball. No one knew quite what to expect especially in the final hour or so when play was under the floodlights. When I had my early morning walk by the sea I noted it was such a clear day that I could see the windmills and boats with a clarity that must augur well for the batsmen.
Sussex won the toss and decided to bat. There were a few put downs but no evidence that the pink ball troubled the batters. Luke Wright with the weight of captaincy of his shoulders scored 117 and new skipper Ben Brown 59, Chris Jordan 50. The home side declared at 358-9 and put Gloucestershire in for the final hour . They did not lose a wicket. More adverse weather conditions forecast today when heavy rain is expected should prove a more accurate test of this new format.
The crowd seemed fuller, certainly in our player’s club section as more of our members turned up after work. The sun shines directly into our club area from the mid afternoon so on a glorious day it’s a wonderful way and place to watch the game over a pint of Harvey’s. One of the attractions of cricket at Hove, as opposed to a more corporate test ground, is that the intermingling of various Sussex worthies from every level.
The former chairman Jim May, the current chairman, Bob Warren, Chris Nash – who was not playing as he was hit on the head practicing in the nets – but acting skipper when Luke Wright resigned, recently retired Ed Joyce, chief executive Rob Andrew all visited the Players Club. I cannot think of any major sporting club let alone a cricket one where this would happen. Heaven forbid a footballer would have to fraternise with a fan. Nor do we have any dress code unlike the 1901 club at Brighton HAFC. Many were dressed in shorts wearing our Players Club pink-crested polo shirt.
As I left at 8pm and discussed the entrails of the day and experiment with a fellow fan we agreed it was a successful experiment. The view is that with popularity of the white ball and new franchise coming in 2020 the red ball game will be squeezed so day/night might well provide it with a lifeline but we will need a gloomier day to assess whether it does confer any advantage on the side batting in daylight.
