Gallery Three

Gallery Three’s main focus is on the modern era but there are several cabinets of exhibits which trace the early story of the Sussex club.

As you enter the gallery, on your left-hand side there is a cabinet on the development of club cricket in Sussex. The next two cabinets along the wall are about the ‘Brunswick Ground’ and ‘The Lillywhite Family’. In the Lillywhite cabinet there is an 1815 watercolour of William Lillywhite, a rare photograph of a Sussex group of players from 1864, and an 1854 scorecard from Lillywhite’s Printing Tent.

On the left-hand wall there are cabinets on Aubrey Smith, David Sheppard and Tony Greig. Boots and pads from Aubrey Smith are on display, as are the jackets that Sheppard and Greig wore on their respective tours to Australia and New Zealand.

The ‘Sheppard’ jacket was worn by David Sheppard during his tour to Australia and New Zealand which was his international swansong. He had played intermittently over the previous few years due to his pastoral duties, but in 1962 he found time to play a little more and in the game for the Gentlemen scored a century which led to his inclusion in the winter tour led by his Sussex colleague Ted Dexter.

That winter, Sheppard scored 1,172 runs, including three centuries and six 50s. He played in eight Tests and made 113 at Melbourne to bring his cricket career for Sussex and England to a close. It was a remarkable career in which he had always been able to make runs on important occasions, even when he had not been in the best of form.

Sheppard’s previous games for England were in 1956 when he was recalled for the Fourth and Fifth Tests against the Australians, scoring 113 at Old Trafford. By playing at The Oval in Laker’s great match, Sheppard became the first ordained priest to play Test cricket.

The Museum also has on display the telegram sent by the English Cricket Board to Sheppard whilst he was playing at Hastings, calling him up to the England side for his Test debut.

The ’Greig’ jacket and jumper on display were donated very graciously by Tony Greig in 1978 following his retirement as captain of Sussex once his involvement with Kerry Packer was made known. The England jacket and jumper were awarded for his place on the 1974/75 tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Greig had joined Sussex in 1967, was appointed captain in 1973, and played for the club until his retirement in 1978. In his time with Sussex, Greig played in 209 matches, scored 9,528 runs at an average of 28.27. He took 509 wickets for 1,186 runs at an average of 28.56.

The MCC team, led by Mike Denness, had lost only one of their previous eleven Test matches before touring Australia and New Zealand in 1974/75. Despite being favourites, they were overwhelmed by the pace of Thomson and Lillee. In the 1st Test match at Brisbane, Willis bowled well to keep Australia to 309 but when Lillee opened the Australian bowling he was a yard faster, and Thomson bowling into the wind was even quicker. The England batsmen were battered and bruised by the hostile short-pitched bowling with resistance only coming from Tony Greig. Greig attacked the bowling and by virtue of his height was able to slash the ball over the slips and gully. Greig’s dogged resistance enabled him to make 110 runs, the only England player to make a decent score. England made just 265 in their first innings, 44 runs short of Australia’s innings. The second innings was worse as England made 166 and lost the match by the same number. England went on to lose the series 4:1.

On your right as you enter the gallery, is a section about Sussex Women’s Cricket. It has a signed shirt by the team that won the Ashes in Bowral in 2008, including the signatures of four Sussex players: C Atkins, R Birch, L Marsh and S Taylor.

In the alcove between the wall cabinets, there is an alcove with an exhibition of some of the photographs from the Smallwood Collection. Arthur Smallwood was a window cleaner by trade and combined his hobby of photography with his love of cricket. The Cricket Museum has acquired his collection of cricket photographs and 29 of his photographs are on display.

Further down on the right there is a cabinet commemorating the visit of Amy Johnson to the ground in 1930, together with a scorecard from the game which was being played at the time – Sussex v the Australians.

By the emergency exit is ‘Club Corner’ in which the focus is on one of the oldest village clubs in Sussex. Currently the Museum has an exhibition on Lingfield Cricket Club, which dates from 1747. Items on display include fixture lists, photographs and a number of items from the Women’s World Cup Match between New Zealand and Holland in 1993 played at Lingfield. ‘The Club Corner’ can be found close to the emergency exit to the left of the lockers.