Murray Goodwin.

I have seen quite abit of cricket this season,and are fed-up of SO MANY overseas players that are just here for the money. However stand up Murray Goodwin an outstanding player fo Sussex.

A lot of the attention over the past few years has gone to Mushy, but Goodwin has been eqaully as instrumental. His composure is second to none; no one could drain the emotion out of a situation like he does and completely ooze class.

Absolute star. What a shot of the last ball. And well done to Sami for sticking in there with him.

Didnt I read that this is Goodwins last season with us as he is joining the Indian League thingy. What reason................................................MONEY

Whats the problem he has given us so much over recent years, its time he now provides for his future as so many others are doing.

My response was to somebody earlier who said the only reason fopreign players come into County Cricket is for the money, and he was disgusted by it, Goodwin is and has been good for Sussex but his motives are still the same MONEY and financial security.

Class batsman , what an innings !!

BensGrandad said:

My response was to somebody earlier who said the only reason fopreign players come into County Cricket is for the money, and he was disgusted by it, Goodwin is and has been good for Sussex but his motives are still the same MONEY and financial security.

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I think it is naive to believe that nearly every player is not in it for the money (why do you think Harmison has suddenly made himself available again for limited overs games. his bowling in that suddenly seems to have suddenly perked up, I wonder why! Standford 20/20 for $20M). They like all of us have to think of the financial security of themselves their family and there many years retired after cricket.

However, what some overseas playes do is go through the motions and not give their all for counties, however, you could never say that about either Murray or Mushy. They are two huge reasons why Sussex have been so successful.

In any case I feel here is no the time to have a gripe about Murray. What a fantastic knock, yet again the mighty Sharks snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. I never thought all the way along we were going to win, only when the ball sailed over the rope did I think we were going to do it.:yahoo:

I want to stroke his fuzzy hair.

I like his Buzz Lightyear chin

No praise is too high for Muzza.

The thing that always strikes me about his batting is that he knows where every fielder is, which frees him to improvise so much.

And he's a proper gent.

And he gets stuck into coaching the youngsters.

With Murrays inning you never really notice him scoring, but suddenly he is on 35 without ever playing a big shot.

Yesterday in that last over, I was cheering as loud I would at the Albion when they score a goal

Truly marvellous scenes

Outstanding Truly outstanding.

The nerves going into that last over was like a penalty shootout!!!

We went absolutely mental as the ball sailed over the rope & massive grins were in place for the rest of the day !!!!

From todays "Times"
Richard Hobson
The now-familiar sound of Sussex By The Sea rang out in triumph for the fifth and final time under the galvanising captaincy of Chris Adams after the most extraordinary of those successes. When Adams told his squad in the dressing-room before play that he will step down at the end of the season he cannot have imagined the story about to unfold.

Murray Goodwin won what was effectively a final of the NatWest Pro40 League by striking the last ball from Charlie Shreck over long-on for six, completing such an exciting turnaround that Giles Clarke, the watching ECB chairman, may have wondered whether the board is doing the right thing in scrapping the competition after next season.

Nottinghamshire had every reason to anticipate securing a first one-day title since 1991 when Samit Patel and Graeme Swann, on a turning pitch, reduced Sussex to 130 for eight in the 30th over, still 97 runs short of the target.

“Forty minutes from the end I sat there wondering what I might say after being defeated,” Adams admitted.

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Goodwin finished with 87 not out from 64 balls. “I have never in my life seen an innings quite like it,” Adams said. Since 2001, Goodwin has been a quiet hero for his captain, a constant source of good sense. He is a fearsome cutter and a clever accumulator of runs; this time he morphed from being Michael Bevan into Andrew Flintoff.

Sussex by the Trent have been a happy unit. They completed the second of their three Championship titles here in 2006. Nottinghamshire were abysmal on that occasion but this time they played well enough for most of the time to feel confident. “It was defeat from the jaws of victory stuff,” Chris Read, the shellshocked captain, said.

Read, probably more than Goodwin or Adams, will mentally replay the closing stages and ask himself what could have been done differently. Should he have held back a few overs of spin? Should Shreck, who struggled for control of length, have been entrusted with the unfamiliar task of bowling the last over with 16 required?

Such thinking would be an injustice to Goodwin, targeting a short boundary and making room to hit into the leg side, and the hip-swinging efforts of Mohammad Sami. With the game all but lost, the ninth-wicket pair had nothing to lose. And the margins were so fine, such as the third ball of Shreck's calamitous over edged for four by Sami.

That said, none of the Nottinghamshire seam bowlers matched James Kirtley for yorkers and changes of pace. Sami, too, offered plenty of slower balls after Rory Hamilton-Brown had removed Patel, for 78 from 83 balls, and Ashwell Prince, reverse sweeping, at a crucial stage in the 29th and 31st overs to check acceleration.

This trophy will add to the standing of Adams as the most successful captain to lead Sussex. Members have probably only just recovered from the emotion of Mushtaq Ahmed's farewell at the end of last month; they must dry their handkerchiefs for another goodbye when Adams takes charge for the final time at Hove on Wednesday week.

Michael Yardy has been appointed as his replacement but although Adams said last night that he has promised himself a year in the ranks, he is a very strong and popular contender to replace the departing Gus Mackay as chief executive.

Adams may well feel that momentum is building towards retirement. It will not get better than this.

Nottinghamshire

W I Jefferson b Martin-Jenkins 25

G P Swann b Sami 0

M A Wagh c Hamilton-Brown b Kirtley 8

S R Patel c Smith b Hamilton-Brown 78

A G Prince c Kirtley b Hamilton-Brown 33

*†C M W Read not out 31

B M Shafayat b Kirtley 11

M A Ealham b Kirtley 7

A R Adams not out 16

Extras (lb 7, w 10) 17

Total (7 wkts, 40 overs) 226

D J Pattinson and C E Shreck did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-19, 3-65, 4-147, 5-154, 6-180, 7-199.

Bowling: Sami 6-1-30-1; Kirtley 7-0-39-3; Wright 3-0-22-0; Martin-Jenkins 8-1-37-1; Yardy 8-0-45-0; Hamilton-Brown 8-0-46-2.

Sussex

M H Yardy b Patel 53

†M J Prior c Read b Pattinson 10

L J Wright c Prince b Pattinson 4

*C J Adams b Swann 24

M W Goodwin not out 87

D R Smith b Swann 1

C D Hopkinson st Read b Patel 8

R J Hamilton-Brown st Read b Swann 1

R S C Martin-Jenkins c Jefferson b Patel 2

Mohammad Sami not out 32

Extras (lb 3, nb 4) 7

Total (8 wkts, 40 overs) 229

R J Kirtley did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-32, 3-87, 4-105, 5-109, 6-120, 7-125, 8-130.

Bowling: Shreck 8-0-50-0; Pattinson 7-0-46-2; Ealham 7-0-46-0; Adams 2-0-15-0; Patel 8-0-36-3; Swann 8-0-33-3.

Umpires: B Leadbeater and P J Hartley.

Fourteenth Eye said:

Outstanding Truly outstanding.

The nerves going into that last over was like a penalty shootout!!!

We went absolutely mental as the ball sailed over the rope & massive grins were in place for the rest of the day !!!!

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That was BETTER than Virgo v Swindon, really, it was.