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Support acts compensate in style for absence of Afridi Vs Pujara showdown

This was billed as the Big One. As in a night of boxing, there can be great entertainment on the undercard as young hopefuls, or old timers put themselves on the line, but everything leads to the main event. The heavier the weight, the more global the stars, the bigger the show and the louder the roar of the crowd. 


If you had believed the hype, that's how Day One of Sussex Vs Middlesex should have been. The genteel town of Hove on the English South Coast might not be Las Vegas, but in cricketing terms, two mighty global heavyweights were due to go head-to-head. Pakistan's young pretender, Shaheen Shah Afridi, the ICC Player of the Year and current poster star for Middlesex, would be facing off against Indian veteran Cheteshwar Pujara, a relentless grinder of runs for his country who has started his Sussex career with two double tons and a slightly more mundane hundred in his first three matches for the county. 


As things turned out, the main event simply didn't happen. In sport, as in life, "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find, you get what you need". And if what you happened to need was a rattling good day of hard-fought red ball cricket, then it was here on the Sussex coast. 


Events may have conspired to remove Afridi Vs Pujara from the bill, but the expectant crowd (and a very healthy one it was too), had their fill of excitement from the support acts, and by the close of play, Sussex, who elected to bat on a very flat looking track, had reached 354 for 6. They will feel they have the edge, but Middlesex, with a late flurry of wickets, will have slept knowing that they are right in the game. You sense that this match is going to be about big scores, and it certainly does seem that county wickets this season are not the green vipers' nests that have fatally bitten many first innings efforts in the recent past.


Sussex batting, of course, did give the local crowd some of what they wanted, and they immediately had the chance to revel in Afridi steaming down the slope from the Cromwell Road End. He didn't disappoint, knowing that early wickets may be crucial on such a good pitch as he peppered the young opening pair of Alaistair Orr and England hopeful Tom Haines. 


Or, indeed, it should have been held by Stoneman at midwicket, but Afridi's due award came with a snorter that ripped out the Haines off stump. There is a huge amount to admire in the compact left-hander Haines, and I am one of those who think he is not far off an England call up. But this was a bitter taste of what top class international bowling is like. 


From there, though, the twin left-handers Alaistair Orr and Tom Alsop proceeded to make hay as the Sussex sun seemed to flatten the track even more. Together they put on 204 for the second wicket in a glorious reminder that rubbing shoulders with the game's top global talents can bring the very best out of young hopefuls. Alsop finally fell caught at square leg by Handscomb from the frankly unexpected bowling of Mark Stoneman for 113. 

Orr's dismissal when it came was a piece of tragic theatre. Stuck on 99, he was in full 'cat on a hot tin roof' mode and had already nearly run himself out. Alas, his luck ran out when he spooned a simple catch of Hollman's leg spin to Handsomb at slip on the stroke of tea. 


Would Orr's departure set the stage set for the big heavyweight clash between Afridi and the new-man Pujara? Not on this occasion. Perhaps buoyed by the flat track and admiring the fluent stroke play of his young colleagues, Pujara despatched Luke Hollman for two boundaries of his first two balls and was clearly in a mood to enjoy himself. Surely this would encourage Middlesex skipper Handcomb to unleash his heavy artillery in the shape of Afridi? That chance never came, as another fine young prospect, Ethan Bamber, drew the uncharacteristically giddy Pujara into a wild drive that he edged to Holden at slip. 


More was to come in the international talent parade. Afridi's countryman, Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan looked in fine order until left-armer Blake Cullen found his edge and gave Handscomb his third catch. Making his comeback was the imposing figure of England's Ollie Robinson, a man who has tormented Middlesex at Hove in the past, taking 14 wickets in 2019. He looked in good order with the bat here to see Sussex to the close with George Garton. 


No big Afridi Vs Pujara showdown then (at least not this innings), but in a second division Championship match in Hove, the crowd or those watching via the live streams are enjoying a galaxy of global stars. Afridi, Pujara and Rizwan have top billing, but there are also Ollie Robinson and England hopefuls like Tom Haines and perhaps Sam Robson, who many feels could still make international runs. 


There will be few leaving Hove on a balmy spring evening disappointed at what they didn't see. Most, if not all, will have been uplifted by the fare that they did.