Sussex's encouraging future and Surrey's uncomfortable truths bring much-needed noise

HUW TURBERVILL AT THE KIA OVAL: Two sides with contrasting fortunes on and off-the-field clash on the penultimate day of the Bob Willis Trophy

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What’s this, I thought – fans queuing up to get into The Oval?

Yes, they really were there it seemed, sitting patiently against the perimeter wall of the famous old ground as I made my way to the Alec Stewart Gate for day three of Surrey v Sussex in the Bob Willis Trophy.

It briefly brought to mind the two-mile queue at 3am ahead of the final morning of the legendary 1953 Ashes Test: “A double human ring surrounded the ground.”

Alas, they were not here for the cricket. They were accountants, queuing up to take an exam, the Kia Oval deemed suitable by the government owing to its vastness and social-distancing potential. So many accountants, in fact, that I lost count (I’ll get my coat).

It was a different story in the ground, alas. There had been quite a few journalists at Chelmsford the day before. Today, I appeared to be on my own. It’s fair to say that there is not a lot resting on this final four-day match for the hosts or the visitors.

Surrey had lost all four matches, a second season of red-ball struggle after they finished third from bottom in the top flight last year... although they look as if they are going to win this one; Sussex have managed just the one win and discovered they are going to lose their gilded coach, Jason Gillespie, who is returning to be the head honcho of South Australia.

It was all a far cry from previous seasons – like 2018 when The Oval was packed to the rafters to watch Sir Alastair Cook’s farewell Test ton against India.

To be fair Surrey have been beset by injuries: to Morne Morkel, Ollie Pope, Jade Dernbach, Jordan Clark, Rikki Clarke, Ryan Patel and Liam Plunkett. And with Jason Roy and Tom and Sam Curran on England duty, they have been down with the kids, blooding promising youngsters like James Taylor and Dan Moriarty, and giving more experience to the hugely promising Jamie Smith.

^{Tom Haines went to his second first-class ton on day one}

Sussex too are in the process of rebuilding with a number of rookies – although some are suffering from second-season syndrome. Right-arm seamer Henry Crocombe, nearly 19, has bowled well in this match, with his dyed hair reminiscent of an early 2000s Jimmy Anderson. Northern Irish offie Jack Carson has been a discovery (celebrating his first five-for here). Tom Clark made his maiden first-class half-century against Kent, and James Coles celebrated becoming Sussex’s youngest ever first-class cricketer in this match - 16 years and 159 days - by taking his maiden wicket, and not a bad one too – Ben Foakes, bowled by a beauty. And then Tom Haines, just 21, went to a second first-class century.

It all went a bit pear-shaped second time around, however, when they slipped to 109 for 9 by the close... Moriarty (6 for 60) and Amar Virdi (3 for 31) evoking memories of spin twins of the past here - Tony Lock and Jim Laker; Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury: the youngsters have bowled well in tandem throughout the campaign.

The rebuilding work at Sussex will now have to be continued by a new coach, with Mark Robinson (for a second spell?), Mike Yardy and Chris Adams the likely contenders.

The cricket was pretty good to be fair, with Surrey battling hard to make 388, close to Sussex’s 415, played out against the clanging and thumping of rebuilding work in what was the Lock/Laker Stand. Jamie Overton was again showing that he can be a handy acquisition for Surrey from Somerset – with the bat, at least, making a half-century on his four-day debut.

Surrey will be confident of wrapping up the win on day four, a fillip for new coach Vikram Solanki.

Alas like so many stories in this pandemic-plunged summer, a lot of the news, drama and nervousness has come off the pitch.  

Surrey fans have had several false starts. About 1,000 fans a day attended the two-day warm-up match against Middlesex on July 26 and 27. Then 2,500 were due to go to the BWT match against the same opposition on the Saturday before the government pulled the plug. Finally 2,500 did make it in for the Blast match against Hampshire (inducing a clamour among the club’s 13,000 members).

Their Blast form has been better, it is worth noting: two wins, one defeat, one tie, and one no result (Sussex’s record is similar, minus the tie).

Like I reported at Essex yesterday, Surrey face an anxious winter to see if this virus is going to disperse.

For international matches, they need 50 per cent of their 25,500-seater venue to be full.

^{Richard Gould's Surrey are reporting a downturn in income for 2020}

They have already seen annual income drop from £45m to £15m. In 2019, Surrey made a pre-tax profit of £4.4m, their 10th year in profit. Like Essex, they will be drawing on their cash reserves this year and next if Covid is still around, however, with the next Test here likely to be in September 2021 at the earliest.

Last summer, was a bumper season with the World Cup and an Ashes Test. Surrey made £9.5m from international gate receipts, as opposed to £5.9m the previous year. They received £2.5m from domestic gate receipts (£1m more than Essex as reported yesterday). Oval Events – their commercial wing – made a whopping £24m. That’s loadsa money.

There’s been interest over the internet, with about 800,000 views for the Bob Willis Trophy matches thanks to streaming, but Surrey are still praying on some solutions for cricket’s crowd conundrum.

“Cricket can’t afford another summer like this one,” Surrey chief executive Richard Gould told SportBusiness. “Already we’re going to end up 18 months without a cricket stadium being used to any degree of normality. No other sport, industry or sector will go through that.

“We want people to be able to buy their season tickets and membership over the winter and tickets for internationals with confidence they will be allowed in the ground,” he said. “Without that confidence and those forward sales, it all becomes untenable.”

It was a relief to finally get into a ground I have loved visiting for 35 years, but my goodness it was as low-key an occasion here as I have seen.

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