Bruce on the Boundary – Today’s opener is about more than one match

Sitting in the sunshine at Hove on Tuesday, about to attend my 35th Sussex press day, I was asked if the start of the cricket season means as much now as it did back at the first one I went to in 1989, a wet-behind-the-ears local paper reporter hoping than when I stepped into the press box at the County Ground for the first time I’d at least be tolerated, if not welcomed.

The truthful answer? No, it doesn’t. I’ve been very fortunate during those 35 summers spent covering Sussex cricket. I was there, with a front-row seat, for the very best of times, from 2003 to 2009 when Sussex were the best team in the land and expected to win trophies, never mind merely compete with much bigger and better resourced counties.

But I worry about Sussex’s long-term future. If I’m still around to come to a 45th press day (that’s assuming I’m invited) will it be to a preview a season like the one which starts today (Friday 5 April), with Sussex competing in three competitions and the first-team the shop window for a county where the recreational, women’s and disability game seems to be in rude health.

I hope so, but I have to admit I think it’s unlikely. I do think that ECB chair Richard Thompson and his CEO Richard Gould, with their strong background in county cricket, have the best intentions when they insist that they are invested in preserving the 18-county structure which has been around, more or less, for 140 years.

But the biggest worry among the Sussex fans who will turn up at Hove today for the opening game against Northamptonshire is that the current structure will eventually ebb away and we’ll be left with 10 clubs (not necessarily counties) based at the international grounds.

The rest will become feeder teams, playing in a second-tier competition, with the players they develop – as they do through the current pathways – eventually heading off to earn a living in a structure dominated by limited overs cricket, in whatever format you wish, with the occasional red-ball match to keep players in tune for Test cricket, which will still exist because it continues to be very popular in England but will increasingly involve just series against Australia and India.

Another overhaul of the domestic schedule is planned for 2025 by which time we’ll know whether the English game has opened its arms to private investment. In that regard, Sussex ought to be a club worth looking at.

Their headquarters is in an enviable location an hour from London in a part of the country where people and businesses still spend their money for a good time. But they also have a ground which at best can hold only 6,500.

It’s five times smaller than the capacity of The Oval 40 miles up the road – with another international stadium in Southampton an hour to the west, and Kent, with ambitions to develop a 10,000-capacity ground in Beckenham, an hour to the north east.

If 18 becomes 10, will there really be room for four counties from the south east? And that’s without considering MCC / Middlesex at Lord’s?

Sussex, headed by chair Jon Filby and recently appointed CEO Pete Fitzboydon, will fight their corner. They are one of 16 counties bidding to host one of the eight professional women’s set-ups and when they presented their plan at Lord’s last month they were the only county who brought along their men’s head coach (Paul Farbrace) to help make their case.

Anyway, back to the present. It would certainly help Sussex’s relevancy if they could end eight years in Division Two by winning promotion in the County Championship this season, and I think they have a good chance, not least because their best bowler, Ollie Robinson, will be available for many of the first seven games Sussex play before the T20 kicks in at the end of May.

If he plays against Northants, it will be only Robinson’s second first-class match since last July. The ECB only gave him a one-year central contract and, after an underwhelming performance in his only Test appearance of the winter against India, he has a lot to prove, not least to himself.

Sussex ought to benefit because a fit and firing Robinson will win them Championship games.

There is a new skipper too. John Simpson, recruited from Middlesex, has little captaincy experience but he’s about to start his 17th season as a pro so he knows his way round the block.

Simpson might be less demonstrative than some of his predecessors and Farbrace has promised to empower him to do the job after admitting he interfered too much last season. “I was learning how to be a coach again,” he admitted. It should make for a good combination.

With a moveable cast of overseas players – five in all with West Indies pace bowler Jaydon Seales likely to debut today – Sussex appear to have their strongest four-day team for years.

Although, as always, there are question marks. Can Tom Clark successfully replace Ali Orr at the top of the batting? Will the precociously talented James Coles make the same impact he did in 2023? Actually, that’s just two concerns, which is a far shorter number than in recent years.

It’s probably too much to expect a dramatic improvement in Sussex’s T20 and 50 overs cricket, although Tymal Mills looks a shrewd choice as T20 captain. Farbrace has already confirmed that he sees the 50 overs competition as an opportunity to develop young players.

But the Championship is different. This looks the best equipped Sussex team since they came down and, providing they steer clear of major injuries, one that should win promotion. Will being back in Division One make a difference to their long-term future? We can only hope.