Sussex CCC chairman Jon Filby talks to Colin Bowman about an exciting start to the season on and off the field
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00:00Good morning and welcome back to the Utilita Bowl. Sussex have just taken out a handsome win against Hampshire and I've got Sussex chairman with me, John Philby.
00:18John, first of all, there's a hell of a lot of exciting things happening at Hove at the moment, isn't there?
00:25Yeah, yeah. On and off the pitch, Colin, I would say. Today, really, it's a very important win to beat Hampshire.
00:33Hampshire have been in the first division for a long time, they've been challenging at the top of the division.
00:39They've been really setting their soul out to win the counter championship and we've come and beaten them inside two and a half days, so that is really, really pleasing.
00:48And off the field, we had the lovely evening on Friday at Hove. England beat the West Indies very comfortably, but because of the new food and drink arrangements we got on the ground, we had record levels of revenue from that game, so that's very encouraging.
01:08Yeah. We opened Sixes, and there was a lovely piece in the evening, Argus, if people want to try and search that out, about an Argus journalist who came to the opening, found himself batting in a net next to Joffre.
01:20And we're very confident that Sixes is going to bring about 30,000 new people to the ground every year, and they're going to come, they're going to play some cricket, and we hope to start to build a relationship through that with sausage cricket.
01:36So, as you say, plenty going on. It's very exciting times.
01:41Yes, I totally agree. And for most cricket fans, the T20 blast is the thing they really look forward to in the summer. And that's just around the corner, isn't it?
01:52Well, it is just around the corner. So, on Tuesday, there are two games. There's a second-elevener playing against Kent at Arundel, and then there's a team, Sussex team, playing against Berkshire at Hove, and they'll be, it's possible that one or two players might play in both games, but there'll be a shootout for places.
02:14You know, it's quite, everybody will have their own idea on who they think should be in the team. I've got my own ideas of who I think should be in the team. I don't really share those, but there's, it's reasonably straightforward to pick the majority of the side, but there are a few places that are really up for grabs, and people can watch with interest on Tuesday and see which players are doing well, and who's going to get picked for the first game at Lords on Thursday evening.
02:41Exactly. It's a really busy week, but just to concentrate on the, we're off to say, Division 1. We started really well. We're not here just to make up the numbers, are we? We're still in title discussions, aren't we?
02:56Without any doubt, Colin, we're in the title discussions. Paul Clarbrace has been very clear on that from the very beginning. He's been saying, we are not here to make up the numbers. We're not talking about avoiding relegation. We're in this competition to win it.
03:11And of course, it's really important that that's the attitude that the players take onto the pitch. We've had three really, really comprehensive wins, particularly the home win against Somerset and this one against Hampshire.
03:25And there's a win against Worcestershire. Two very difficult away games at Somerset and Nottingham, where I hope that what we've got there is a whole load of learning into the team.
03:36And we've now got a little break from the championship. In about four weeks' time, we head off up to Durham and we are right in the mix at the top of the table.
03:46And who knows what's going to happen? But you can be sure that we'll go up there and be really ready for that game at Durham in four weeks' time.
03:54And I'm sure you'll be there, Colin, won't you?
03:56I definitely have. I've got my national coach booked overnight.
04:00Brilliant. Brilliant.
04:01So I'll leave it there. Thank you very much for talking to me.
04:05As always, I'm really happy to talk to you, Don. It's just fantastic that you could spend the time with me.
04:12Good luck with everything going forward. Huge congratulations to everything that's gone already.
04:17We're building onto something really special here at Sussex County Cricket Club.
04:21And I think the message is, if you haven't already, get involved. Thank you very much.
04:27Couldn't agree more, Colin. Thank you.