Salisbury's Departure Leaves Sussex Reeling (19 Nov 1996)

19 November 1996

Salisbury`s departure leaves Sussex reeling

Christopher Martin-Jenkins

CONFIRMATION of the departures of Ian Salisbury and Ed Giddins yesterday left Sussex certain they will have no option but to build for the future with a young side. Salisbury, to whom they had offered a five-year deal, confirmed the rumour he is to join Surrey in April, signing a three-year contract at the Oval yesterday morning, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

Simultaneously Warwickshire announced that Ed Giddins, sacked by Sussex in the wake of his 19-month suspension after a positive drugs test, would play at Edgbaston from 1998. He will play league cricket in the south, possibly for Bromley, and be paid a retainer by Warwickshire next season.

Salisbury is leaving Sussex not for money - he was offered, he says, much the same sort of terms by both counties and also by Northamptonshire, the county of his birth - but because he wants a change of direction and the excitement of playing for an ambitious county with a strong side and a high expectation of success in all competitions.

It was because of a poor performance at the Oval in the final Test of the summer that the 26-year-old leg-spinner is spending this winter at home and not with the England team in Zimbabwe and New Zealand. Still potentially a matchwinner at the highest level, he is leaving because he says that at the end of the season he felt "mentally and physically burnt out with the frustration of trying to win things for Sussex.

"I`m leaving on the best of terms and in many ways with regret," he said from the five-bedroom house in Hove which he shares with his wife, Emma.

"Both the county and myself need a change of direction. We shall continue to live here and I want to remain friendly with people at Hove. It just seemed fated that my contract came to an end this season at a time when Surrey were anxious to find a spinner.

"I feel my best is yet to come. If you can be part of a side challenging for titles, you`re in the spotlight and I remain fiercely ambitious. I`m impressed with everyone I`ve talked to at Surrey and already David Gilbert is talking about enlisting help from Terry Jenner, the Australian leg-spinner who helped Shane Warne."

Salisbury has taken 18 wickets in nine scattered Tests so far, failing to live up to the immense promise he showed when he first played against Pakistan at Lord`s in 1992. His 459 firstclass wickets have come at a cost of 34 each and it is a lack of control which has prevented him making the most of the considerable snap in his leg-break and a deceptive googly.

As a natural stroke-player with more than 3,000 first-class runs, he will enjoy the even surfaces at the Oval. Whether he will enjoy bowling there is an interesting question. Salisbury cannot and does not blame Sussex for his inability to claim a regular Test place but he finally grew weary of the infighting which began when he fell out with Alan Wells, who has been dismissed as captain and replaced by Salisbury`s good friend, Peter Moores.

The implication is that had Sussex decided to relieve Wells of the captaincy 12 months earlier, replacing him either with Moores or Salisbury himself, he would not be moving now.

"I was incensed by what Alan wrote about me in a book in 1994 just before we toured for England A. We both desperately wanted Sussex to succeed but our relationship was affecting other players.

"We got together halfway through the 1995 season and made a pact to work together. Unfortunately, our batting just hasn`t been strong enough and it`s really frustrating when there`s nothing to play for after July."

Sussex officials feel a lack of financial muscle prevents them building a team which will challenge consistently for titles. They managed to entice Desmond Haynes to take over from Norman Gifford as coach but offers to various batsmen, including Chris Adams of Derbyshire, have failed.

They still possess a number of talented younger players, many the product of an exemplary junior development programme. The county won the under-15 Army cup this year and enjoyed success at all age groups below the professional tier.

A committee meeting tomorrow will decide what terms can be offered to Wells to remain as the senior batsman, but he is unlikely to stay.

Officials expect to hear before the end of the month whether they will also lose the talented but still inexperienced Danny Law to Essex. Even if Martin Speight, still considering a new contract, remains, Moores and Haynes will have to build a completely new side next season in a county environment which, for all the talk of comfort zones, is increasingly impatient for success.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)