Sussex v Derbyshire and the Test future of Ollie Robinson
The coastal weather has been clear and bright but with high winds.
I therefore swerved a trip to Hove for the county championship match between Sussex and Derbyshire.
Now you can follow every ball on a live steam with commentary by Adrian Harmes.
He misses a lot but is so affable and such a strong supporter of Sussex that you can only forgive.
Derbyshire posted a first innings some 7 runs ahead of Sussex one.
Yesterday morning Sussex were 76-4 but 2 youngsters, James Coles (aged 19) and Dan Ibvrahim (20) put on a fine stand, Coles scoring a century.
Proficient with bat, ball and in the field, Coles clearly has a bright future but the way things are this might well be in the white ball format and you can see a richer county like Surrey acquiring his skills.
Sussex closed at 273-5, so the final day is intriguing. Can Sussex bat on – declare and then bowl Derbyshire out or can Derbyshire remove Coles cheaply? Game on.
Adrian Harmes’ co-commentator was Dave Fletcher from Radio Derby.
County cricket throws up personalities like him, deeply knowledgeable on Derbyshire cricket and a real enthusiast for a county that has won precious little.
Indeed, when I played my game of Derbyshire best XI, I could think of great bowlers like Michael Holding, Mike Hendrick , Alan Ward, Devon Malcolm, Les Jackson – all rounder Dominic Cork and keeper Bob Taylor – but, aside from Kim Barnett, Chris Adams and David Steele, harder to fill the batting berths.
The commentators asked us to name the 25 most prolific run-getters of all time. Some I knew – Jack Hobbs, Graeme Hick, Graham Gooch, Glenn Turner, Zaher Abbas – but I was surprised that Gordon Greenidge ranked 10th.
The Old Trafford Test is next week and will Ollie Robinson be selected?
I doubt it.
There is an injury concern as he suffered from back spasms at Headingley and it would seem Jimmy Andersen will be preferred on his home ground.
It’s a shame as Robinson’s steepling action has been effective but he may well end up as one of those county cricketers not quite up to Test-level, like Alex Lees – scoring now prolifically for Durham – Dom Siblsy and Dan Lawrence.
