THE Sussex 2000 cricket revolutionaries were down at the Goldstone football ground yesterday afternoon drumming up support for the re-fashioned county club.
They had taken advantage of the rain that cut short their opening home championship fixture with Northamptonshire to pass leaflets round the packed house watching Brighton and Hove Albion play their last game after 95 years at the ground.
With Sussex declaring on their overnight score of 411 for seven, only nine overs of Northants' second innings were possible before rain forced the abandonment.
Jim May, a banker and Sussex fanatic who is one of three new committee members, said of the diversion to the Goldstone: ``We need money and we need support. The goodwill is there but that needs to be translated into more members. It seemed an ideal opportunity for a recruiting drive.''
There is something of a parallel between the football and cricket clubs. The county side have been at their picturesque ground in Hove for 125 years. But in terms of a vision for the next 20 years, May says every option must be considered.
There is even (whisper it within earshot of older supporters) the possibility of cricket also moving to a new ground. May says: ``Emotionally I am attached to the present ground but whether it will be right for the vision we have of the county in 2020 is another question.
``Such decisions will be up to the full committee when the other six members are elected early next month. The local authority would have to come in on the debate and frankly there isn't an abundance of sites around.''
The new brigade at Sussex have abandoned the planned £7 million redevelopment of the northern side of the ground because it was felt the plans drawn up by the old committee had no chance of winning lottery money support.
May, coming from a world where the bottom line is all-important, recognises that Sussex must generate more of their own money. Last year their income was £1.64 million but 53 per cent of that came from the coffers of the England Cricket Board.
But there is more to a successful county club than money and hardware. On the evidence of the first game the 'new' Sussex seems to be awash with goodwill and enthusiasm, as much among team captain Peter Moores and the players as it is among the supporters.
May says: ``We are trying to make the county the game's first non-feudal professional outfit. People were very disillusioned about the old set-up and I think this fed into the dressing-room.''
The new chairman, Robin Marlar, cites the experience of Ken Suttle, one of the county's most loyal servants. He invited Suttle to lunch in the committee room only to discover that the 78-year-old could not remember entering that holy of holies in all his time there. ``But I'm not wearing a tie,'' said Suttle, to be told by Marlar, ``that doesn't matter any longer''.
Keith Newell, who scored his maiden championship century this week, says he has noticed a change for the better in the atmosphere. ``Everyone is helping each other now, on the field and off it. Sussex is much less cliquey than before.''
For the moment, the omens are good. Even the rain seems to be smiling on Sussex. After the first round of county matches, Sussex are joint top of the table with Glamorgan on 11 points.