Members Forum notes from Sussex Cricket Chair, Jon Filby

The latest Members Forum took place on Friday 6th May in the Cow Corner at The 1st Central County Ground. 

The panel consisted of Jon Filby (Chairman), Rob Andrew (Chief Executive), Martin Richards (Vice Chair) and Lisa Hogan (Membership and Ticketing Manager).

Please see the summary of the forum, from the Sussex Cricket Chair, Jon Filby:

"I was delighted to see so many of you at the first members Forum of the season. I was even more delighted that between us we managed to take two wickets in the hour we had together and only sorry we couldn't maintain that form throughout the match

And I was pleased to be able to share with you my three point "manifesto” as your new Chair:

• Win matches
• Value members
• Work together with the ECB

Whilst I'm very grateful for the warmth of welcome you gave to me at the forum and around the ground since my election it is evident that we all have much to do and that was clear from your comments on the day which I have tried to summarise here:

1. Catering

I was very pleased that Andrew  Boon the General Manager for Sodexo Live was able to join us at the forum and hear your concerns first hand. We will continue to work with Andrew and his team to address these concerns as much as we can. These included variety of choice, quality of food, service ethos from staff and a "cashless" ground. I was pleased there was a recognition that the margins and turnover are challenging but we will continue to work on this and please do keep providing us with your feedback on this important subject.

2. Queues at the gate 

We recognise that this has not been as smooth as we would have liked in the early games of the season and you will have noticed that Rob and Lisa implemented some new entry procedures on the third day of the Middlesex game. I should have pointed out at the forum that this year’s entrance arrangements are temporary whilst the Tate Residences are completed and that next year there will be a brand new purpose built ticket office with more than one service point at the south entrance to the ground.

3. T20 membership/General membership

We explained why T20 is not included in basic or life membership. We confirmed that membership remains open by visiting the Reception Desk at the back of the South West Stand and were very pleased that several new members signed up during the Middlesex match.

4. Access to the outfield at lunch and tea

We recognise that this is a lifelong tradition for many of us. Whilst the increased professionalism and fitness/practice requirements for the modern player are essential, there is a balance with tradition to be struck here. And an immediate decision was taken by the Chief Executive to allow access to the ground whenever there are not players training or practicing during intervals and this happened that very afternoon!

We also confirmed that special efforts will be made to enable softball games and walking on the outfield during games where there are school visits and for all four of the RL50 matches later in the summer.

5. Arundel

We confirmed that it is our hope to return to playing at Arundel whenever the fixtures allow. This year there is so little cricket at Hove during the summer months when a match at Arundel would be appropriate that it has not been possible to include a game there in our schedule.

6. Results

We remain grateful for your generous support for all that we are seeking to achieve on the field with our blend of home grown talent and experienced international cricketers. The batting group has developed significantly under the coaching of Grant Flower and with the brilliance of Cheteshwar Pujara to enjoy. It has been very pleasing indeed to see hundreds made by the three Toms – Alsop, Clark and Haines and a very near miss by Ali Orr who has impressed us all with his composure at the crease.

Due to injuries our bowlers have had to work very hard and Henry Crocombe, Sean Hunt and Jamie Atkins have all had plenty of game time under the watchful eye of Steve Finn who has suffered his own injury. Clearly, we are a work in progress but that progress is evident for all to see in the red ball game and we look forward with excitement to the T20 season which starts soon under the captaincy of Ravi Bopara.

We will run another forum later in the season where you will have the opportunity to further review our progress. Thank you for all your support. It is hugely appreciated by all of us and especially by the players."