Writing must be on the wall for the current Management, but to be fair what have they had to work with?
We have been a 2 player team for the past few years (Joyce and Magoffin) when everyone else has fielded 11.
Well, the problem started a few years ago when Goodwin was never properly replaced. Then when Prior had to retire, Sussex have been extreamly short of experienced batsman. I don't know if finance has been an issue, as the county ground has been redeveloped a lot in recent years. That may have restricted bringing in quality plays. Each year, money is spent on an overseas star for 20/20 too.
Maybe the emphasis on limited overs cricket is too great? That's where the money is, and where the sell out crowds are drawn. To be fair, Sussex have always been a competitive team in 20/20 so they've done okay there. 20/20 does appear to be prioritised over the longer formats. On the recruitment issue though, I feel this has put too much pressure on our younger players coming through. The likes of Brown, Wells and Machen continue to be very inconsistent performers. They looked very promising a few years ago. This has had a knock on effect to the newest wave of youngsters (Finch, Salt, etc) who have had little support.
This squad of players at the start of the season had: Joyce, Wright (though recovering from injury), Nash, Taylor, Jorden & Magoffin. That's a more than capable group of players, who should of won more. To only win once in the championship with Taylor in the side is a mystery really. Nash was the leading run scorer before this round of fixtures too, so the quality is there! The only redeeming factor this year has been the emergence of promising young bowlers.
