From The Archive: It's A Knockout #4

Whatever happens to the longer form of single innings county matches from 2020, we know that this year is expected to be the last year that the knock-out Cup Final is played at Lord’s.

When they come to write the history of those great days, they will note that in the first two of the 57 years, the team that no one could beat was Sussex. Under the intelligent captaincy of ‘Lord Edward’ Dexter, a combination of flamboyant batting - notably Dexter and Jim Parks -  good county seam-bowling and careful, sometimes defensive fields, Sussex won all eight matches in 1963 & 1964, winning the trophy twice. Eventually in 1965, Worcestershire, the reigning County Champions knocked them out.

We did not meet our neighbours in the Gillette Cup until 1967 when we travelled to Hove for a quarter-final in which two of our younger men starred, wicketkeeper Bryan Timms scoring 55 and Alan Castell taking 4-52. It was not enough and Sussex prevailed by just nine runs. Tony Greig with 46 and Tony Buss 3-41 were their leading performers but in the semi-final at Canterbury Kent’s 293-5 was unusually high in those days and they won easily, going on to defeat Somerset in the Final.

We did not meet Sussex again in a knock-out competition until the 1980s, winning two and losing two matches in the group stages of the B&H Cup. Robin Smith starred in our victory in 1989 with 96*, while Kevan James took 3-34. Four years later, Robin reached three figures in a Nat Westv Trophy match but so too did both Sussex openers, David Smith and Bill Athey, and we were well beaten.

In the early years of this century Sussex made a habit of beating us in the various knock-out competitions, until we finally reversed that sequence in 2007 as Shane Warne took 3-33, but while Sussex overall had the better of our encounters, that was all forgotten on one of the great days at a sunny Lord’s Final in 2009. The Sussex openers started carefully, reaching 30 but then three wickets for Dominic Cork and a handy run-out reduced them to 43-4. Mike Yardy battled to 92 and gave Sussex a chance with a score of 219-9, but all the Hampshire batsmen reached double figures, Jimmy Adams scored 55 and Chris Benham (37*) and a limping Nic Pothas (35*) saw us home to another trophy.

We chased exactly the same target, again from 40 overs, three years later in a semi-final at Hove and an astonishing barrage from Carberry with 66 from 36 balls and James Vince 58 from 43, made it an easy win with seven overs and eight wickets to spare. In the Final, we won that last-ball thriller against Warwickshire. There have been four more fixtures between the sides since then, Hampshire winning three with one abandoned. At present the advantage appears to have shifted westwards.

Dave Allen