Sussex v Leicestershire at Arundel

Yesterday I returned to Arundel with a friend. Nancy rightly praised the proximity of beautiful countryside to the coast in Sussex and Arundel with its castle dominating is as fine example as any. Some 1,500 were there to see Sussex play lowly Leicestershire in a game we have to win to rein in Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire who look likely to take the two promotion berths. Last time at Arundel, in beating South Africa A by an innings, Will Beer and Ake Solande took 14 wickets so their inclusion was no surprise. We batted first and posted 262, once again failing to garner enough batting points. Play closed with Leicestershire 77-2 but rain may spoil a result.

I always walk round the ground chiefly to take in the breathtaking views but also you always meet someone. On this occasion it was the club historian Jon Filby and we spoke of one of Sussex’s greatest sons Maurice Tate. Tate took 2,783 wickets in his career but also opened the batting scoring just over 22,000 runs. Jon kindly presented me with a book about him. Sleep set in the afternoon, a fair amount of Sauvignon Blanc was consumed and it was a hot day, a hot day but a happy one.