Matt Prior: The truth will out over state of Sussex

NICK HOWSON: The former wicketkeeper-batter levels serious charges at the Hove hierarchy, demands honest answers and warns mistreated young players will leave the club

Matt Prior, the former England wicketkeeper, has issued a scathing broadside in the direction of the Sussex hierarchy and believes the truth behind the stream of recent departures and treatment of young players will soon be made public.

The 39-year-old spent 13 years at Hove between 2001 and 2014 as a player before his retirement due to injury.

Despite reaching T20 Blast Finals Day, 2021 was a tough season on the south coast. Sussex finished bottom of LV=Insurance County Championship division three and seventh out of nine in Group A of the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Recent seasons have also seen a stream of departures of players and coaching staff.

Laurie Evans, Danny Briggs, Reece Topley, Michael Burgess, Harry Finch, and Luke Wells are among the stand-out exits since Prior hung up his gloves.

England duo Chris Jordan and Phil Salt are bound for Surrey and Lancashire respectively ahead of the 2022 campaign, moves described by chief executive Rob Andrew as "purely around their desire to have a change of scene".

Jason Gillespie, Carl Hopkinson, Jon Lewis, and Michael Yardy have left coaching positions during the same period and Prior believes Richard Halsall, academy director, has departed as well. Ian Salisbury and James Kirtley now lead the team across the formats.

This drain of talent on the field and in the dressing room has been offset by the emergence of some talented youngsters, including teenagers Danial Ibrahim and Archie Lenham. Steven Finn has signed up ahead of the new season and Fynn Hudson-Prentice has returned too.

^{Prior won three County Championship titles during 15 seasons at Hove}

Prior claims to have received accounts over the mistreatment of players and is calling on Andrew and chairman Bob Warren to come clean over the state of the club before it emerges through another avenue.

"I am absolutely furious at what has gone on and is going on Sussex," he told The Cricketer. "The truth will out at some point and people will be shocked. 

"I am Sussex through and through, I played for the club since was 12 years old and all I care about is that club. I have no personal agenda, I am not after a job. 

"I only care about Sussex being the best it can be which right now it is so far from that it is unbelievable. 

"The chairman (Warren) and Rob Andrew will pin me up as meddling and destructive.

"I keep getting called by individuals and being told what is going on and how they're being treated and it is not right.

"That club is a special place and it was built on serious values. We look after our own and that, unfortunately, is not happening. 

^{Danial Ibrahim leads Sussex's next generation}

"You look at the young players we have: Dan Ibrahim and Archie Lenham are fantastic but they're lambs to the slaughter because they're not getting the support they need."

He added: "There is stuff that has gone on that people are not aware of. I am hoping that the chairman, chief executive, director of cricket (Keith Greenfield), whoever it is will be honest with members about what has gone on. 

"The answers when asked have been palmed off. Who is accountable? Who has made the cricketing decisions at Sussex for the last six years?"

Twenty-six players played Championship cricket for Sussex in 2021, with three having returned to school and another 10 not yet at university graduation age; an insight into how reliant they are on youngsters and stretched their resources have become.

Prior made his Sussex debut in 2000 aged 19 and his early years at the club were among a squad bathed in experience, including Kirtley, Chris Adams, Murray Goodwin, Mushtaq Ahmed, Mark Robinson and Tony Cottey.

Without the same depth of know-how around the club, Prior has long-term concerns about the academy graduates and expects more departures.

"Young, talented players are always going to make mistakes, always," Prior, who played 157 times for England and is a bettingexpert.com ambassador, explained.

^{Rob Andrew has been Sussex chief executive since January 2020}

"Did I know what I needed at 20? I thought I did but I didn't. You can't expect 20-year-olds to know what they need to make them better to get the best out of their potential.

"The leadership in the club is being found wanting. I put none of this on the players, they are there as pawns right now in an environment that isn't allowing them to be the best they can be. 

"That has to change because otherwise they're going to leave and Sussex will lose that talent."

Speaking to The Cricketer in October, Andrew said Sussex were working hard to balance the needs of their young players.

“We have to work very closely with all of our coaching staff and their closest advisers, who tend to be their families initially," he said. "Agents have a big role to play in this as well. 

"There is a huge responsibility because we’re taking these kids on a journey; it’s their dream to play first-class cricket or international cricket, but it comes with a lot of challenges and stresses that we have to try to manage.

“We have to find a balance so that they can have a little bit of something else in their lives, but that is easier said than done – when you’re 20 or 21, all you want to do is play your sport.”

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