Towards the conclusion of a spring day’s play at Hove, as the sun sets towards Portslade and the pavilion’s shadow encroaches on to the main square, almost all spectators head for the deckchairs and benches of the uncovered Cromwell Road End, eager to eke out what warmth they can garner from the fading rays.
Even on such unseasonably cloudless days as Sussex enjoyed for last week’s pre-season friendlies against Kent and Worcestershire, most found the late-afternoon relocation necessary.
Brenda Lower, a devoted member of the club for longer than she can remember – “Oh, at least 60 years” – is not one of them. Around these parts, Lower is affectionately known as the “keeper of the balls”, tasked with guarding the spare selection of red Dukes should the umpires call for an alternative. Things have begun promisingly this year, with last season’s flimsy cardboard boxes used to house the spares replaced by a sturdy green zipped bag – an upgrade that the England and Wales Cricket Board’s bean counters should let slide.
From the first delivery to last, Lower does not move from her dedicated pavilion seat, smiling through the chill and buttoning up her grey trench coat as the mercury drops. The cricket season has returned, and no boardroom impropriety can taint the pleasure that she gleans from her beloved club.
“I’ve been waiting for this all winter,” she says, as the club’s flag flutters atop the scoreboard. “It’s brilliant to be back here.
“The winter has been horrible. I bought the last Cricketer magazine and the headline said: ‘Where’s the money?’ I don’t like to see that. But it’s just one of those things. It’s hard to see, but we’ll get over it. I’ve seen it all happen over the years. With the good and the bad, we’ll be all right.”
Sussex’s financial plight is the primary topic of conversation around the ground as members reflect on the club’s most turbulent winter for a generation – the startling operating loss of £1.3m in the last financial year, which has earned points deductions across all three competitions and the imposition of tight financial controls for the next three years.
Whether as a result of malpractice or negligence, it is a situation that has rocked a county on the up.
After ending their nine-year absence from Division One of the County Championship following promotion in 2024, the club finished a highly respectable fourth last summer. To their existing playing group, they have added four new signings and assembled what is widely considered to be Sussex’s strongest squad since the Chris Adams era that yielded three County Championship titles two decades ago. Short-term hopes remain high.
“We’ve built a team now that is definitely capable of doing something special this year,” says club captain John Simpson. “There’s no doubt we can win the championship, or a trophy or two this year. In adversity, we can push forward. When the chips are down, we’ve got a lot of character and guys with fight about them.”
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In spite of sanctions that include a 12-point deduction in the County Championship, little should change this summer. Playing and coaching staff remain, including the highly respected head coach, Paul Farbrace, who has been at the helm since December 2022. “He is a brilliant manager of men,” says Sussex member Martyn Levitt. “With him here, we’re in good shape.”
Therein lies the biggest fear. When Farbrace took charge, he created a five-year plan to reach the top of county cricket’s pyramid. Ahead of year four, he has been forced to alter the timeframe to conclude this summer, admitting that cuts could well see him depart following the season, alongside many of the eight players whose contracts soon expire.
The county must reduce salaries by about £400,000 next year, they cannot make signings without ECB ratification, and Farbrace says that they might not be able to afford overseas players in coming seasons.
“When we found out what was going on, there was a lot of anger and angst among the players ahead of what should be an exciting season for us,” says Simpson. “But we’ve got that out of our systems now.
“There’s going to be a lot of noise about players’ contracts, budgets, whatever else – we have to be fully focused on what we’re paid to do, which is play cricket and put smiles on Sussex members’ faces, because that’s the least that they deserve.”
There remains hope, because without it, what else is there? “We’ve still got a good team,” says Sussex member Eric Mobbs. “I don’t think we will struggle, even with the points deduction. We can cope. If we do well, that should hopefully encourage the players to remain for another season. So I’m optimistic.”
It can be a difficult endeavour following a county lacking the golden geese of a men’s Test cricket venue and a Hundred franchise. Where once stood a wooden shed from which Newbery bats were crafted, Hove’s outer reaches are now crammed with new money-making ventures: a block of luxury apartments, a pub, a healthcare studio and a cricket-themed bar.
They helped enable the cultivation of an impressive playing group, but the sums did not add up and repercussions are waiting. Simpson describes this season as “almost like a free hit”. Others might see it as a stay of execution. Either way, the message to Sussex fans is to enjoy what they have while they can.
Read more from our special report: ‘This Sussex team will be broken up, so let’s give it a real go’:
Photograph by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images