Remembering Daniel Oliver

Sussex Cricket is devastated to announce the sudden death of Daniel Oliver at the age of 50.

On Sunday morning Daniel collapsed at home and was taken to A&E at St Peter’s Hospital Chertsey where, after undergoing some tests, it was confirmed that he not only had a blood clot to his brain but also undiagnosed leukaemia. He was placed in a medically induced coma and his loved ones were with him when he died at 10.25 pm.

As a player, Daniel was a talented batsman who played with distinction for both Chichester Priory Park and Stirlands in the Premier Division of the County League and represented the Club Cricket Conference on several tours. 

He was a skilled hockey player too, playing for Havant in the National League but it was as an outstanding administrator that Daniel made his most important contributions to cricket in the county.

Daniel joined the committee of the Sussex Premier Cricket League (SPCL) in 2008 as Registration Secretary, subsequently adding the role of Results Secretary in 2014. Daniel was elected Vice Chair of the SPCL in 2017 and then took the Chair for the SPCL's final year in 2018. 

He was part of a small group that was instrumental in bringing the four recreational leagues together under the Sussex Cricket umbrella to form the highly regarded Sussex Cricket League in 2018. 

Daniel was appointed Vice Chair for the Premier Division of the league at its inception and had held that position ever since. As a key member of the League's Executive Committee, he was a leading figure in the management of most of the league's major relationships, not least with the ECB and our ball supplier Gray-Nicolls. 

Perhaps Daniel's proudest achievement though, was heading up the League's annual flagship event, T20 Finals Day at Hove, which ironically takes place at the 1st Central County Ground next Sunday. His death leaves an unfillable hole in the Sussex Cricket League.

As a result of Daniel's involvement with the SPCL, in 2010 he was elected as a Director of the Sussex Cricket Board, which at that time was the body responsible for the recreational game in the county. 

When the professional and recreational games in Sussex became one organisation in 2015, Daniel became a non-executive Director of the newly formed Sussex Cricket Ltd and part of that role included serving as an ex-officio Trustee of the Sussex Cricket Foundation until 2021. 

He served with huge distinction as a Board member, becoming Vice Chair of Sussex Cricket, and Chairing both the Player Pathway and Health and Safety Sub-Committees, until his maximum nine year term ended in March this year. 

He would most certainly have returned to the Board where he would have without doubt made an even greater contribution to Sussex Cricket. 

Daniel had an insatiable appetite for serving Sussex Cricket, selflessly, passionately and exceptionally diligently with a very rare combination of huge love for the game in all its forms and a remarkable attention to detail.

On Friday evening last week at the close of play on the second day of the County Championship match against Derbyshire, Daniel made what was to be his final post on the Professional Cricket Committee WhatsApp group which read: “It was a real pleasure to watch Dan (Hughes) bat on the live stream today”. 

As his colleague on the Board of Sussex Cricket since 2015, it was both a pleasure and a huge privilege to work with Daniel throughout that time and he will be hugely missed by all of us at Sussex Cricket. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.

During the T20 Blast quarter final with Lancashire on Wednesday the Sussex players will wear black armbands and the Sussex Cricket flag will fly at half-mast. 

A further tribute to Daniel’s exceptional contribution to Sussex Cricket will follow during the County Championship match against Glamorgan next week.

Sussex Cricket Chair, Jon Filby