Day 68: Happy to be a loser

 I was thinking about why I support some of the sporting teams that I do. Geography doesn’t always play a part. I had never been to Norwich or Loughborough before I took an interest in their teams.

Two of the cricket teams I have an affinity to are down mostly to geography. I was born, and for a long while, I have lived in Nottinghamshire. I have been going to Trent Bridge regularly for as long as I can remember. My first game was the Test match with the famous duel between Michael Atherton and Allan Donald, albeit the day after. £4 for a days test cricket, what isn’t to like?

But for me, it will always be the team from Hove that will have my loyalty. I lived in Crawley for a short time, and when my family moved over the Hampshire border, I knew that the six martlets team were my side.

It was never built on wanting to support a successful side but a team I could identify with. I missed the era where Imran Khan played for the ultimate South Coast side, but that never mattered. I cried when Sussex lost the Nat West Trophy Final in 1993. I soon satisfied that this team was never going to win anything. I was content with my happy go lucky losers.

Chris Adams, Peter Moores, and Mark Robinson ruined that. They found a way to make Sussex winners, and it was great while those glory years took place.

There was a mix of young players and experienced pros. All with a will to win and united under strong leaders. It was great; I was in my element and far away from the county, I found inventive ways to watch them play as often as possible.

What it did was raise my hopes and expectations. I was happy supporting a team that finished nowhere. I really was. Now that Sussex have crept back into their old ways, I still hope that they will put a string of victories together and add to the three County Championships that were won during the years that Mushtaq Ahmed spun Sussex to the top of the first-class tree.

Although I’m happy with Sussex being a team that only I could love, and for me, that is the most important thing.