One recently wrote a brief article about the quality of Sussex wicketers- see ARTICLES PAGE- coming through at youth level. One of the main reasons has been the encouragement and coaching from Shaun Humphries. Research is at present being carried out to establish his career in the Junior squads but it is well known that Shaun was a late developer who, at one stage, was one of 3 keepers vying for a place in the County Juniors.
To his credit he persevered and practiced hard to succeed as
a keeper. His glove work improved sufficiently for him to become
a contracted player with the County Club. It is always pleasing
to see one of our join the Club and heartbreaking to see them
leave.
One is not party to the discussions about Shaun's career but one
can only presume it hinged upon his batting. I have always gone
for the best keeper- e.g. Bob Taylor but many others prefer the
Jim Parks type glove man. In a private moment Shaun will be entitled
to ponder why was his batting so important to a Club that had
imported at least 6 new batsmen. If the new imports had been making
runs on a regular basis Sussex CCC could have selected the best
keeper and played him at Number 8/9. After all few people worry
too much about the bowler who cannot bat.
We wish Shaun well in the future.
We do have some young keepers on the way up and they like Shaun have made big scores in County Junior cricket. Perhaps they should spend their time wearing batting gloves and put runs on the board rather than honing the very specialised keeping skills.