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Testimonials

Graeme Fowler

“If I knew then what I know now”. That is probably the most stupid phrase anyone can ever say. At the time we all make decisions based on the current facts, our personal information and experience. No one ,in my experience makes a bad decision on purpose.
However, looking back is not always a pointless exercise. Memories are one of our most precious gifts that we carry with us. Often, in a senior moment I find myself completely absorbed in my own little world in a previous decade. More…

Peter Moores

The first time I saw the real talent of RMJ was from the non strikers end as he proceeded to deposit Anil Kumble into the deck chairs for a quite enormous six. What made the shot even more remarkable was that he did it from the crease with what appeared effortless ease. The game was Sussex v Northants in 1995 when RMJ was still at university and just breaking into the game. At the time I didn’t realise that RMJ was going to have such an impact on his native County but I did realise he had a rare talent for hitting a cricket ball. Robin went on to make his first fifty for Sussex that day and as he now has close to six thousand runs and three hundred wickets and has been a key player in Sussex’s rise over the last decade.
The problem with Robin is that he makes it look to easy so we always think he can do more, rather than just enjoy him for what he is. When he’s bowling we want another “yard of pace” and when he bats we want him to be able to get stuck in and grind out a score. The fact is that Robin doesn’t grind out scores and nor should he try, as he has the rare ability to hit the ball on the top of the bounce and his timing can be quite sublime. Neither should he strive for an extra yard of pace, rather concentrate on his gift of making the ball move and bounce from a high action. As his coach for several years I have fallen into this trap and hope I didn’t nag him too much and did recognise his natural talent as a cricketer. The importance of a member of any team is often not measured until he leaves and though I am sure Robin has several more seasons left for Sussex he will be sorely missed when he eventually decides to “hang up his boots”. He has been a fantastic servant to Sussex over the years in both First Class and One Day cricket and is a “Sussex Man” through and through. His dry humour has become stuff of legend in the Sussex dressing room and his wedding joke part of Sussex folklore. There can be few more deserving beneficiaries and I am sure as always you will support him in this special year. May I take this opportunity to personally wish Robin and Flora all the best for 2008 and let’s hope the lads can make it three in three for a bumper season all round.
Peter Moores.
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Andrew Strauss

My first memory of “Tucker” came shortly after I arrived at Radley College as an awkward, spotty and totally overawed 13 year old. Everywhere I looked, I saw fully grown adolescent men, whose voices had broken, who were intimidating beyond imagination to someone who looked closer to 11 than a teenager.
In those first days of school, you had to sink or swim on your own. The older pupils tended to only talk to the new boys when they needed something doing, so it was not surprising that I was just beginning to run for cover when this giant beanpole from the year above approached me. “Hello there, I’m Robin, How have your first few weeks been? I hear you play cricket.” I was flabbergasted that he was actually trying to make conversation with me, and that he was actually being kind of nice.More…

Jonathan Agnew

I feel as if I have followed every inch of Robin’s path through professional cricket. This is not necessarily due to having sat for many hours in the sun in one of Hove’s inviting deck chairs, or anywhere else for that matter: I reckon I have only seen Robin in action a handful of times. No, there has been no need for that because throughout Robin’s career, I have been sharing a commentary box with his Dad, Christopher.
Regular listeners to Test Match Special will be all too aware of a certain haplessness that dogs CMJ’s attempts at anything technical. This extends, even, to operating teletext which, thankfully, after years of muttering and stamping feet at back of the box, Christopher has finally mastered. He can now pull up the latest Sussex score on Ceefax while commentating at Lord’s at the same time! No mean feat.More…