Forty minutes into Rob Andrews first press conference as Sussexs surprise new chief executive, after a bruising decade in the boardrooms of the Rugby Football Union, and it is abundantly clear (as if there had been any doubt) that he is not about to pull up a deckchair and settle for a sinecure among the seagulls and seasoned cricket fans at Hove.I thought people came to the South Coast to take it easy! he jokes, as the questions from the floor turn from the prosaic to the political, with Sussexs adversarial stance in the ECBs brave new world of city-based cricket right at the forefront of the topics.Sussex, after all, were one of three counties - Surrey and Kent being the other two - who, back in September, stood firm in voting against the ECBs move towards a solitary option for the future structure of Englands revamped T20 competition. And for that reason, and regardless of the initiatives that the club themselves might prefer to showcase - most particularly their county-wide commitment to the grassroots game - no-ones in any doubt about the issue that will dominate Andrews tenure.We are not Luddites, insists Jim May, Sussexs chairman, waving an arm towards the pavilion window to emphasise his point. We were the first county ground to install floodlights: fact. We were the first county ground to have a dedicated academy; this year we were the first county to have a dedicated womens academy. We are not looking in the rear-view mirror all the time. But we do have doubts about the city competition.Sitting alongside him, Andrew is understandably diplomatic in fielding enquiries about a role that he will not officially be taking up until January 3. But if, in the course of his RFU career, he gave off the impression of being the ultimate insider - seemingly above reproach as five England coaches passed below him through the corridors at Twickenham - hell be discovering soon enough how the land lies now that hes on the slippier side of a club v country divide.I knew, right from the start, that this was going to be full-on, he says. But the one thing I have been very close to in the last 20 years is politics in sport. Sport is big business now and Ive seen how people try to manage that mix. Ive seen it when it goes quite well, Ive also seen it when it goes badly. Understanding those issues, and trying to pick your way through and get to a solution, is really challenging but very rewarding.According to May, it was Andrews range of transferrable skills from rugby to cricket that propelled him to the top of a list of 50 applicants for the job - and he transferred plenty of those back in his playing days as well, representing Cambridge University and Yorkshire 2nd XI in the mid-1980s before the demands of his rugby career took over from his passion for leather and willow. But it is Andrews status as an unequivocal household name that is surely every bit as valuable to Sussex in crickets uncertain current climate.In his 12-year England career, Andrew amassed 71 caps at fly-half and featured in three World Cup campaigns and as many Grand Slams. And, as a man who has been immersed in administration ever since, with seven years as director of rugby at Newcastle prior to his time at the RFU, his views can be expected to resonate beyond the sometimes cloistered walls of English domestic cricket. By extension, they will tackle at source that thorny issue of relevance that stalks the sport in general but the smaller clubs in particular.Rugby and cricket are at similar levels in the public consciousness, Andrew says. The funding from the ECB into the counties is very similar to that from the RFU to the clubs. And the question of how do you get players through the system to produce a successful England team is very similar too. When Hugh Morris [former director of England Cricket] was at the ECB and I was at the RFU, we shared a lot of thoughts.So, when Andrew points out - as he does - that one of the greatest strengths of English cricket is the fact that its 18 first-class counties are spread from the tip to the toe of the country, or states that there are kids all over Sussex who are dreaming of being the next Haseeb Hameed, and its our job to make that possible, his words are music to the ears, not only of his chairman sitting alongside him, but to the representatives of the other non-Test grounds who may at last have hit upon their spokesman for the disenfranchised.Against a complex backcloth, and with people taking positions, it will be extraordinarily helpful having Rob, says May. He will provide a safe environment for the cricket management, but not an unchallenging one, and his profile will undoubtedly help us in the commercial world.Much of that commerce will inevitably depend on the ECBs vision for the future of its domestic T20 competition. As an upshot of Septembers meeting, the plan as it stands is to replicate the compact schedule and structure of Australias Big Bash League, even if the current travails of Australias Test team serve as a timely reminder of the dangers of becoming over-reliant on short-form gains.Though the details differ, the somewhat shrill tone of the T20 debate is one to which Andrew believes he can relate, given that his focus for the past two years has been the new long-term agreement between the RFU and Englands leading clubs over the release and funding of the elite player squad. The original deal, which he was instrumental in brokering back in 2008, had been a similarly watershed moment for English rugby, given the bad blood and suspicion that had coloured so much of the landscape since the dawn of the professional era.In rugby we found an English solution to an English problem, says Andrew. I think the same has to apply to cricket. I dont want to point fingers elsewhere but has Australia cricket gone too far in one direction and impacted the long-form side of the game?May, for his part, isnt so concerned about holding back, warning (with perhaps more mental imagery than he had intended) of a Hinckley Point-style meltdown if the ECB insists on driving through changes to the domestic structure when, in his opinion, there is insufficient evidence that they are either necessary or suitable.There are at least three big differences between here and Australia, he says. Number one, nearly all the population of Australia is in a few cities by the coast. Number two is that the weathers guaranteed, which it isnt here. And the third thing is, its a very different media landscape in Australia. All their major sports are on free-to-view TV.Our anxiety is that if we go down that route, would non-host counties like Sussex be marginalised in the long-run? Its a really difficult trade-off, because were trading off whats best for English cricket, whatever that is, against whats best for us.And to Sussexs credit, notwithstanding their relegation in 2015, the club has been one of the genuine powerhouses of the two-division era precisely because it has known how to make the best of its relatively straitened circumstances. Last years departure of coach Mark Robinson may have severed the final link to the side that won three County Championships in five seasons, including their maiden triumph in 2003, but in Mays opinion, the seeds of regeneration have already been sown.It is with justifiable pride that May points out that the club has no external debt, unlike several of the Test-match grounds - most notoriously Durham, but the likes of Yorkshire and Warwickshire too. Much of that is a legacy of the work put in place by Andrews predecessor, Zac Toumazi, who announced his intention to step down last month after four years in charge, but equally it stems from a trenchant recognition that top-down business models lack sustainability in a crowded market.Looking around Hove, with its rows of well-appointed flats peering over the boundary from the neighbouring streets, it is clear that Englands oldest county never had an option but to cut its cloth accordingly. Not for them the notion of build it and they will come, as advocated by the old ECB hierarchy. Besides, as May freely admits, theres a degree of wealth in the ever-expanding conurbation of Brighton and Hove that makes looking after existing markets more relevant than might be the case the further north you travel of London.But if there is one tenet of the boards new regime with which the Sussex hierarchy wholeheartedly concur, then it is their new Cricket Unleashed strategy, launched this summer with a view to driving participation in the recreational game. On Toumazis watch last November, Sussexs professional club and its cricket board, which represents 245 clubs throughout the county, were merged to create a new centralised body. It is a change that Andrew plans on embracing.Sussex is probably the first county to put whole of their cricket under one umbrella, and that is really important to me, he says. All sports have to build from the bottom up, because eventually thats how you get the right group together for long enough with the right talent. I first saw Jonny Wilkinson when he was 11 years old. George Ford and Owen Farrell were once seven-year-olds dreaming of playing for England. Thats what sport is about for me.Teams take time to build, it will take a bit of time for this new Sussex team, after a successful period, to grow. But theres nothing better than watching young players grow and fulfil their potential. Jaydon Mickens Jersey .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. Marcell Dareus Jersey . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. http://www.cheapjaguarsjerseyssale.com/?tag=rashad-greene-jersey-sale .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. Keelan Cole Jersey . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Josh Wells Jersey .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Rasmus Ristolainen has just two goals this season. Both have been game-winners for the Buffalo Sabres.The defenseman scored 42 seconds into overtime to give the Sabres a 3-2 comeback victory over the New York Islanders on Friday night.I love to play overtime, said Ristolainen, who also scored in the extra period in Buffalos 4-3 victory over Edmonton on Dec. 6.Johan Larsson and Matt Moulson scored in regulation, and Ristolainen had his team-leading 19th assist to help the Sabres win their second straight game. Robin Lehner made 33 saves.We battled at the end and we found a way to win, Ristolainen said. We never give up and were having fun and we trust each other.Ryan Strome and Alan Quine scored for New York, and Jean-Francois Berube made 34 saves in his first start of the season.The Islanders have lost four in a row. They have had a lead or been tied entering the third period of each game.We play a good 40 minutes and the third period we kind of seem flat, Strome said. Its kind of been the downfall of our team this year, our third periods and finding ways to win.Ristolainen scored the winner on an odd-man rush, receiving a pass from Kyle Okposo in the slot and sending a wrist shot over Berubes glove.Ristolainen is the fourth Sabres defenseman to score two overtime winners in his career.Its good to get points from guys back there, and hes got a lot of poise, Okposo said. He makes plays and he creates offense, and you need that. Hes our No. 1 D-man for a reason.Okposo, the Buffalo points leader, was playing against his former team for the first time.It was strange, to be honest with you, Okposo said. So many times you play with those guys. I know exactly what theyre going to do. It was an odd game, an odd feeling.Moulson tied it at 2 for Buffalo on a power play 3:19 into the third period. Berube could not control the rebound from Evander Kanes long shot, and Moulsons backhand bounced in off the skate of Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey.Thats kind of how things have been going for us lately, Price said. Its frustrating. Were playing well, cant seem to get the bounces in thhe third and overtime.ddddddddddddIslanders coach Jack Capuano was pleased with his teams effort on the second night of a back-to-back, but said taking two penalties in the third period killed New Yorks momentum.Its frustrating to me that the guys worked this hard and they cant get the win, Capuano said. I was just hoping we could stay disciplined in the third period, and we didnt.The Islanders showed little fatigue from playing in Chicago on Thursday night, generating several early scoring chances against a Sabres team that was off for two days.New York had a 16-7 advantage in shots on goal in the first period and took a 1-0 on Stromes straightaway wrist shot with 6:52 remaining.The Sabres showed more urgency in the second and tied it 2:32 into the period when Larsson re-directed Rasmus Ristolainens shot from the point past Berube.Quine scored on a power play to put the Islanders back in front 2-1 at 6:39 of the second period. Shane Prince slid a pass across the crease to Quine for the one-timer.Both teams stars were shaken up during the game.Concussion spotters pulled Jack Eichel from the game after he was shoved head-first into the boars by New Yorks Johnny Boychuck late in the third period. Eichel took part in the ensuing power play before going to the dressing room. He returned before the end of the third period.Islanders captain John Tavares also left briefly in the second period after getting hit in the leg but was able to return.Game notes Sabres D Zach Bogosian (knee) sat out his 20th straight game. Bogosian and D Tyler Fedun (upper body) both skated Friday morning and one of them will enter the lineup on Buffalos upcoming two-game road trip, coach Dan Bylsma said. Fedun has missed five games. . Islanders F Casey Cizikas (upper body) did not play after getting injured Thursday night. ... Ristolainen has a point in five straight games, the longest streak of his career.UP NEXT:Islanders: Host Ottawa on Sunday night.Sabres: At Carolina on Saturday night. Cheap Adidas Hockey Jerseys Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Nike Basketball Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Baseball Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys China Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap Custom Jerseys China Cheap Basketball Jerseys Authentic NFL Jerseys China Cheap College Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys ' ' '