Fantastic diving catch from Finch off an inside edge off the bat of Croft from the bowling of Quinn. A bowling point already but I'm now worried that if we bowl them out too cheaply the ECB will use the excuse to deduct us points for the state of the pitch!!!
Meanwhile, the mystery of Ollie Robinson's absence from cricket and prospect of him signing a new contract is explained by his father-in-law. That line that he has been doing specific work to get him ready for what is coming up is somewhat laughable given that he won't have had a game for six months and we have Christmas. And then he injures his hand working out in the gym!!!
"We are pretty close to being able to announce that he has extended his contract, which is great," head coach Paul Farbrace told BBC Radio Sussex.
Sussex will play in Division Two once again next season after having their promotion hopes ended by a draw against Derbyshire in their penultimate game and a 12-point penalty for receiving four penalty notices.
Farbrace says it is "frustrating" that Robinson has not been able to play at the end of the campaign, but that injury is the reason for his unavailability.
"You want your England players to be part of what you are trying to do," Farbrace said.
"He went off to the Ashes and got injured during the Ashes and missed the last couple of games.
"He has been doing specific fitness work that the ECB have been working on with all of their players in and around their Test team to get them ready for what is coming up.
"It is quite an unusual block, because of the [50-over] World Cup, to have almost a six-month window so they have taken advantage of that to work on his fitness.
"Unfortunately he has got injured in the gym - he has hurt his bowling hand - which means we have not had him available for his final two games. But that is part and parcel of having players play for England."
We also still need to be batting ourselves tomorrow otherwise Crawley won't be able to bat in our first innings!
Kent have now confirmed that Crawley has been nominated but they haven't said who the "like for like" replacement is though the money has to be Muyeye simply because we probably need Compton batting for 80 overs rather than a rapid 30 or 40 from Muyeye.
I've said before that Finch is a supreme athlete and natural at all sports as evidenced by his transformation in the last year to a keeper. Today's diving catch (and others standing back this season) are evidence of that. The issue is when he is standing up where he has missed catches and stumpings. That is a reflection of the fact that he hasn't done the job from a very young age where certain techniques become ingrained unlike the likes of Billings, Cox and Robinson. That said, he has done an extremely commendable job in the absence of those three. We also shouldn't forget that he averages 38.44 with the bat and only Crawley and DBD sit above him so he could still command a place in the side as a batsman even if we do recruit another keeper.
I've said before that Finch is a supreme athlete and natural at all sports as evidenced by his transformation in the last year to a keeper. Today's diving catch (and others standing back this season) are evidence of that. The issue is when he is standing up where he has missed catches and stumpings. That is a reflection of the fact that he hasn't done the job from a very young age where certain techniques become ingrained unlike the likes of Billings, Cox and Robinson. That said, he has done an extremely commendable job in the absence of those three. We also shouldn't forget that he averages 38.44 with the bat and only Crawley and DBD sit above him so he could still command a place in the side as a batsman even if we do recruit another keeper.
Part time keepers always struggle against spinners more. The same even applies to the likes of Bairstow.
With Parkinson in the team next season, we do need a keeper who can keep against spinners.
"Ollie Robinson's conduct on the pitch during the summer was unacceptable. Hence he's a perfect fit here at Sussex, and has agreed a new deal."
What did he do off the pitch? Apart from his break-up...
.... which included his new girlfriend turning up at the team hotel in the middle of the Ashes just three months before he was due to get married to the mother of his two year old son, opening his gob firstly about how we were going to give Australia a good hiding and then informing us all that Australia had four number 11s and then managing to play less than three games of cricket in four months including limping off after bowling just a dozen overs in the 3rd Test against Australia.
"Ollie Robinson's conduct on the pitch during the summer was unacceptable. Hence he's a perfect fit here at Sussex, and has agreed a new deal."
What did he do off the pitch? Apart from his break-up...
.... which included his new girlfriend turning up at the team hotel in the middle of the Ashes just three months before he was due to get married to the mother of his two year old son, opening his gob firstly about how we were going to give Australia a good hiding and then informing us all that Australia had four number 11s and then managing to play less than three games of cricket in four months including limping off after bowling just a dozen overs in the 3rd Test against Australia.
Not sure her turning up at the hotel is actually true! What he did to his ex is awful... To be honest, no issue with him having a go at Australia, they do the same to us all the time, all part of it.
Do we need to win this to have any chance of staying up?
No. We need to get at least the same number of points as Middlesex do in their game against Notts so both teams losing might still be enough if we have the same number of bonus points as them. Equally, though and as unlikely a scenario as that might be, we might not stay up even if we win if they do too.
Comments
18-3
50 point deduction from the ECB coming up, as there must be something wrong with the pitch for us to take 3 wickets so early!
"We are pretty close to being able to announce that he has extended his contract, which is great," head coach Paul Farbrace told BBC Radio Sussex.
Sussex will play in Division Two once again next season after having their promotion hopes ended by a draw against Derbyshire in their penultimate game and a 12-point penalty for receiving four penalty notices.
Farbrace says it is "frustrating" that Robinson has not been able to play at the end of the campaign, but that injury is the reason for his unavailability.
"You want your England players to be part of what you are trying to do," Farbrace said.
"He went off to the Ashes and got injured during the Ashes and missed the last couple of games.
"He has been doing specific fitness work that the ECB have been working on with all of their players in and around their Test team to get them ready for what is coming up.
"It is quite an unusual block, because of the [50-over] World Cup, to have almost a six-month window so they have taken advantage of that to work on his fitness.
"Unfortunately he has got injured in the gym - he has hurt his bowling hand - which means we have not had him available for his final two games. But that is part and parcel of having players play for England."
With Parkinson in the team next season, we do need a keeper who can keep against spinners.
96-4
Do we need to win this to have any chance of staying up?