Arundel is a success again - and Sussex could play more outground games in the future

There was a smile on the face of Jack Leaning, who had just overcome injury and wretched form to dredge up an innings of immense character, a man-of-the-match knock to see the Sussex Sharks over the line, beating Essex by five wickets with just four balls to go in this Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

There were smiles on the faces of captain Jack Carson and director of cricket Paul Farbrace as Sussex won for the first time in four matches in the competition, finally wiping off a rather pettily-imposed points penalty for financial mismanagement and moving into the black in the table for the first time

There were smiles on the faces of another bumper, sunbathing crowd, who must have felt this was a reprise of the thrilling victory over Kent a year ago, when Carson was again a hero of the hour but when Leaning was playing for the opposition.

Most significantly of all, perhaps, there was a smile on the face of Shaun Simmonds, the club’s marketing manager, a passionate cricket man who joined the club last year after running his own Hove-based agency, Superstar Digital.

Simmonds has been watching cricket at the County Ground in Hove all his life. But on Wednesday evening he revealed plans to take the oldest county cricket club back to its roots.

He told me: “There are a lot of conversations going on at the moment. We’re keen to take the game all over the county.

“We’re having discussions with Horsham about potentially doing a one-day game there. We’re talking about bringing a four-day game to Arundel.

“And then there’s talk about going back to Eastbourne as well, possibly for a T20 game. Things are a bit skewed to the left of the county at the moment. So it would be nice to get back to Eastbourne.

“In order to grow the club we want to get out there and engage with other parts of the county. There are a lot of operational factors to be taken into account.”

Sussex, of course, used to play all over the county. They played at Horsham for the first time in 1853, at St Leonards (1857), Lewes (1860), the Central Ground at Hastings (1865), the Saffrons at Eastbourne (1867), Chichester’s Priory Park (1906) and Worthing’s Manor Field (1935).

But for logistical and economic reasons, and in common with other counties, cricket has become more focused on headquarters in recent decades.

Simmonds added: “We’ve done a good job with the Foundation getting into local communities and affiliated clubs. Maybe, commercially, we’re a bit Brighton and Hove-centric, which is reflected in our membership base.

“About 80 per cent of our membership is within a five-mile radius of Brighton and Hove. In order to grow the club we want to get out there and engage with other parts of the county.

“There are a lot of operational factors to be taken into account. But it felt wonderful being here today, as it did last year. I’ve been to many grounds around the world but not many match this. And walking round the ground I also saw a lot of familiar faces from Hove. It’s a nice change of scenery for them.”

Last year’s thrilling victory over Kent marked Sussex‘s first return to Arundel since pre-Covid. Then, Sussex upset the local authorities because roads around the famous castle were gridlocked. This time parking was free and everything went a lot more smoothly, with most spectators inside the ground in time for the first ball.

Last year Carson scored an heroic and unbeaten fifty to see Sussex over the line alongside Archie Lenham.

On this occasion captain Carson scored 53 from just 40 balls, with two fours and three sixes.

But the Sussex star was Leaning, who sheet-anchored the innings with an unbeaten 59 from 74 deliveries.

Leaning had scored just 19 runs in the first three One-Day Cup games, following poor form in both the County Championship and the Vitality Blast.

He wasn’t at his fluent best on Wednesday either, hitting just two fours in reaching fifty. But then he hit a six in the penultimate over to set up the win.

Leaning’s effort was all the more commendable because he had hurt his side as he attempted to take a difficult catch. And then he was hit on the same spot when he batted.

“I was beginning to think it was personal,” he laughed afterwards. “It was nice to get a win on the board. The lads have been hurting the last few weeks. It wasn’t a complete performance against Essex but we definitely deserved to win the game.”

Essex had batted first and scored a challenging 316 on the back of Noah Thain’s maiden first-team century. An unsung Sussex hero was left-arm spinner Troy Henry, whose figures of 1-55 from ten overs may look unremarkable but he bowled them straight off and when Essex had lost just one wicket and were looking to put their foot down.

In response Charlie Tear scored a silky 73 from 72 balls as he and George Thomas put on 91 for the first wicket.

Joe Johnson, making his first appearance for the senior side, with neither name nor number to besmirch his pristine shirt, hit a four and a six in a quick 21 and Dan Ibrahim maintained the momentum. But then it was over to Carson, Leaning and Fynn Hudson-Prentice to finish the job.

“We haven’t played well enough and apart from Charlie [Tear] we haven’t had a hundred in the first four games,” said Leaning. “But now we’ve got our foot in the door. Hopefully we can have a run in the back end of the comp and sneak our way through.”