I'd be careful about letting nostalgia get in the way - the rot set in during the 1990s under Peter Edwards' watch. Great servant to the club in terms of marketing and generally keeping the members happy, but the likes of Stanley and Knight could see the writing on the wall...
I take your main thrust, Andy. As you know I am a fierce critic of the way No Change Essex continue to be mismanaged for rather too long now.
However, I think there needs to be a recognition that the forces at work that have shaped Essex CCC were a clear demarcation of what happened
after Edwards' early and untimely passing. A Club that had always been Cinderella's prior to 1979, (NB. The year PE joined the Club.), found success and retained it for around 13 years.
By circa 2000, Essex were in the post Gooch slump, where poor decision making over key issues such as captaincy appointments, were laid bare. The likes of Prichard, still had the view of success, having been part of it. In hindsight he was clearly not captaincy material. But, it was the huge shadow cast by GG, his methods and acolytes that continued to affect decision making and produce a timidity to do anything differently.
As you note, it led to the core of the batting line-up, Stephenson, Knight, Shahid; players who would have made ECCC a much more competitive side in the mid-late nineties and into the new millennium.
But the inability to face up to the real world and move on has been and in my opinion, continues to influence how ECCC are administered.
Without Gooch's weight of runs, ECCC became way too dependent upon Stuart Law. However, one disruptive and jealous individual in the dressing room didn't like that and set about trying to reset, back to around 1985...except that by then all the success had disappeared.
But, hey if the Club continued to do things as it was in Fletcher and Gooch's era, then it would all 'magically come back'. I'm convinced that was the thinking. That took another fifteen years!
I think JPS will be good for the Club, I agree with Pablo, that he will use his intelligence and listen to the members and supporters and move away from this dismissive arrogance of; '
don't question us, we know best' attitude that has plagued ECCC for just a little too long. If you want the people that support your Club on
your side, you need to start listening to them. I think Stephenson will recognise that and do so.
