Hove Actually

Big occasions at Hove have not come along that often. I wasn't going to miss this one. The long coach journey wasn't a chore. I was going home. Home in a metaphorical sense, the feel of the sea breeze, and the sound of seagulls gliding majestically in the sky. For most the ground on Eaton Road is unique in its quaint little way and I guess it is. The deck chairs at the Cromwell road end make the place special. The ground was packed, a good old local derby with the prize of a Lord's final at stake.

The last time they had been this close I was stuck in East Wittering. I saw maybe 30 seconds of that game. The tiny shop had it on a black and white t.v. and I blocked the shop owners view. He understood though he had been there. All Sussex fans have at sometime or another, the same result was always there. I sat in my tent and listened to the commentary as they beat Glamorgan. I went back once went in the same shop but the magic was never repeated.

The rivalry between Hampshire had grown bitter. Most games between the two usually involved a controversial moment that would keep the fans amused. It also coincided with my parent's major fallout with their neighbours. I had moved away in search of better things. They seemed far away where ever I was. The ground looked splendid under the beam of the floodlights, the first installed in the country. 

My first cricket games had been at Southampton mainly to see the touring teams. My heart was never in it for the home team. My heart belonged to the team just a few miles over the border. I did the washing up for months in order to earn the money to get my first membership for Sussex. Finally a Benson and Hedges cup game on a sunny April day was to be the day I was finally accepted by my first true love. 

Most boys my age where of discovering girls and cheap cider when this happened and they are still thing I have never totally got my head around. The cricket team has been there longer than any woman and it will be there long after I have gone. I guess it is true that no fan is bigger than the club let alone a player. I would have loved to have seen some of the true greats that have played the game. There had been many to grace this little ground. I did get to see Ed Giddins a player who when banned for drugs use opened a shop selling Christmas trees. 

It is any boys dream to fill his autograph book with famous names and so when Brian Lara came to the county ground I was no different. I approached him in my shy way and he asked me if I would wait until later. I was star struck so I didn't say anything. Later in the day I was minding my own business when one of the fellow members persuaded me to try again. I approached the legendary batsman again and he agreed to sign my book. I was a bit confused to why he agreed to sign it now. So I asked the man how he knew I would get this autograph this time round he intimated that I was one of the committee members sons. This one white lie secured me the prize.

I looked at the coach times. The train would be too expensive. It would mean leaving at five but the sacrifice would be worth it. The only downside would be if the game were close I would miss the result or face a run along the seafront in order to catch the ride home. This is how it always was. I didn't have to travel such distance and it was true I never had work the next morning.The bus travelled along the south coast taking in the delights of Emsworth, Chichester, Bognor Regis  Littlehampton, Worthing, Shoreham and finally Hove. It took an epic three hours but the end result was worth it. I got to see my heroes. It hurt when at times they were revealed to be real men with many human faults. 

Sussex use two other venues for their matches. There is the rather picturesque Arundel ground looking over the castle. There was a voucher in the West Sussex Gazette for 2 tickets for the price of one and I persuaded my mum we had to go. Middlesex were the opposition. They had a number of famous players such as Phil Tufnell and players less famous such as Mike Roseberry. Tufnell was a big fish and when my sister and I found ourselves in the member's area we decided to reel in the autograph. He had his pads on and was ready to sit down with the food of athletes, a banana and the more athletic cigarette. I brought up my courage and a put my autograph book in his path worried that it was either going to be stained by fruit or set alight. It wasn't always good memories and when Worcestershire came to town the season after most of the senior players left I watched in horror as my heroes were bowled out for a paltry 71. It felt more like 29. 

I arrived at the ground and there were a number of people already there a quick trip to the Tesco Metro around the corner from the train station. Once in side the ground I bought a replica shirt and found my seat. I had a regular seat when I first went regularly. To afraid to sit in the pavilion with the other members I sat near the Arthur Gilligan stand. I was horrified when during a game with Glamorgan there were a couple sat in my seat, the ground was empty but they had sat in my seat. I sat down near by and scowled at them all day as they drank from their flask. I finally moved to the pavilion and for the first time at a cricket match I was amongst friends. 

Sussex fans travel to all corners of the world to follow the team and at away games the same faces tend to crop up and it is reassuring in a way. In 2008 with one game left of the former Sunday rehashed mess about with the format league. It boiled down to the last game of the season and the top two met at Trent Bridge to fight it out for the crown. The result had looked certain to be Nottinghamshire's for most of the second innings until Murray Goodwin swung it back and a six off the last ball sealed victory. I joined in with the celebrations and found myself hugging a man I had never met before but the occasion seemed to merit it. 

Hampshire batted first and when John Crawley fell early on it felt like it was going to be a good day. Then their batsmen chipped in with runs that took their total towards competitive. Shane Warne could have been a Sussex player. He was offered the captaincy and a decent wage in county cricket terms. He said no and while I didn't instantly dislike him, he was to become the main focus of hostility. Chris Adams took control and he started to install a backbone of hard to beat cricketers that had been lacking for so long. In a way I dislike him for that it was so much easier to support a team that didn't win every week. Expectations began to rocket and when they won the second division on my birthday 10th September 2001 it felt like the world would be ok. The world changed the next day in more ways than one.  

James Kirtley started to break through the ranks just at the same time I became a regular at the county ground and it was kind of fitting that of all days his bowling was going to be pivotal. I was there at his debut test match against the South Africans at Trent Bridge where he bowled England to victory on the final day. It was a long journey for him to get to this point his bowling action had been scrutinised on a number of occasions and it was down to a lot of hard work that he finally got the recognition he deserved. When he bowled Warne the whole ground erupted with joy the only person who wasn't happy was the batsman who pointed his bat accusingly at the bowler. When the same happened the ball after it made me more determined to see a Sussex victory.

I was heartbroken when we lost to Warwickshire back in 1993. I watched the game from my living room and as the game drew nearer to a result the family were watching rather pessimistically trying to dampen the inevitable water works that would follow. When Sussex reached their second Lord's final within the space of a few years against Hampshire of all people I didn't stay till the end I chose to spend the moment of defeat looking around the well-stocked shop. I think I would have cried just as hard. That's the problem with following a successful team; the defeats are harder to take.

The Sussex openers started scoring runs at an express pace and when the inevitable mini collapse came with the introduction of the spinners it was up to Michael Yardy and Carl Hopkinson to steady the innings and this they did just calming things down and building a solid foundation. It was during this calm in the past that one lone voice would pipe up with a rendition of 'good old Sussex by the sea.' 

Hopkinson and Yardy would never be considered as top quality cricketers not even by their parents. They had a hard working approach to their cricket and made sure they got more out of their performances that their talent would naturally allow. Hopkinson never quite made the cut and this would be one of his most important days as a Sussex cricketer. Yardy has found international honours with England in the short forms of the game his flat spin bowling is hard to score runs off and his unorthodox batting is ideal for a crisis.   

The game was in the balance when I had to go and find the coach home. It was now dark and the floodlights were burning bright. Hove was the first ground to install permanent floodlights and one of the first sponsors added huge eggs to them as an aid for further sponsorship. If a player hit on of the eggs they were in for a cash prize. The same family friend who took me to Southampton to see the Australians took me to my first day/ night game at Hove. I was to spend most of my summer in Nottinghamshire and this was my last real chance to see them that year. I entered a competition in the programme and when my name was read out over the public address system it made the day all the more special.  I won a bag and Sussex won the game. In some ways this was more exciting than watching my first test match at Trent Bridge later the same week. 

I ran most of the way to the coach station hoping I wouldn't miss my only way home. This was nothing new I had run for the bus so many times it felt right. I got there ten minutes early and the coach wasn't to turn up for another half an hour I could have seen the end of the game to see Robin Martin-Jenkins hit the winning runs. I found out on the radio that victory had been sealed and that a Lord's final beckoned