Brighton and Sussex CCC top their leagues

I am still in cricket mode and one of the reasons I swerved the Brighton v Manchester United game –  the deluge being the other – was that I wanted to see how top of the table Sussex fared against third-placed Yorkshire at Scarborough.

We lost on the fourth day having failed to amass enough runs on the first.

Yorkshire are a big club with a Test ground and should never be in the second division of the Championship. Like a smoker paying for it 20 years later, the club practising a “Yorkshire only birthplace” rule are paying for their earlier sins. Yorkshire has curmudgeonly cricketers so unlike the pleasant fellows that wear the martlet sweater of Sussex.

So I wimped out and watched the United game on telly. Pargie backed the draw and felt, with some justification, that VAR had deprived him of that. Brighton scoring late to win 2-1.

Having received £350m in inflows for players, Brighton were one of the most active clubs in the market – buying Gruda from Mainz for £36 million, Wieffer from Feyenoord for the same sum Rutter from Leeds for £40 million and Minteh from Newcastle for £30 million. Ibrahim Osman was bought for £16 million.

Although all of the above are young, Danny Welbeck and James Milner – who featured last Saturday – are older than head coach Fabien Hürtzeler. Brighton are the only club in the Premier courageous enough to appoint an unknown 31 year old as manager.

Sussex Ccc  now play Derbyshire at home which they should win , Glamorgan at home, Gloucestershire away and their final match at home against Middlesex another famous county side on hard times and this could be crucial   Brighton have a real tester next Saturday at Arsenal equal with them with 6 points but who many fancy as title winners