Ian Hart: Graham Potter's summer recruitment paramount to his Brighton future - and the Worthing cricketer supporting England's World Cup charge

So this time last week the Premier League published the 2019/20 season fixtures.
Brighton boss Graham PotterBrighton boss Graham Potter
Brighton boss Graham Potter

Whilst it’s not rocket science that Brighton have to play every club in the league twice, to paraphrase the legendary Eric Morecambe “It’s all the right teams, but are they necessarily in the right order?”

It’s deja vu for the start with another trip to Watford on the opening day, contrary to the Donald Trumpesque fake news which was circulated on line last Wednesday and allegedly had the Albion playing at Old Trafford to start the season.

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By supporters’ admission, last season the Albion were woeful at Vicarage Road - Bernardo played like Chris Hughton had met him in the car park at 1.30pm and given him a shirt.

But that’s history, the year previous the Albion were unlucky not to come away with all three points.

After the opening day trip to Hertfordshire, it’s successive home games against West Ham and Southampton respectively.

Obviously it’s nearly two months away and whilst we know new boss Graham Potter has to hit the ground running, his recruitment in the next eight weeks is paramount, so all remains to be seen.

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From a supporter perspective, those first three games have to bring return of at least five points, as match four is against Manchester City, arguably the best team in Europe - let alone England (sorry Liverpool fans).

But long before August 10 a lot is going to happen, so let’s all just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Just a few weeks on from Anthony Joshua’s shattering defeat by rank outsider Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden, Tyson Fury made his Las Vegas debut with a second round stoppage against German heavyweight Tom Schwartz - a boxer who apparently isn’t even a household name in his own household.

Case in point, I spoke to a legendary British boxing journalist earlier this week who himself is long time friends with the top boxing scribe in Germany and he hadn’t even heard of Schwartz!

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This highlights the ludicrous boxing politics in this country and perhaps these two results, one freak and one nailed, will make respective promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren put their petty squabbles aside and give the British public the heavyweight fight they not only deserve, but the whole of world boxing craves.

Obviously Joshua needs to avenge his defeat. In his defence rumours abound about him suffering an injury in training nine days before the fight, his dad wanted him to pull him out there and then.

As an aside and I personally believe an ultimate insult, Ruiz replaced Jarrell Miller at five weeks notice after the latter failed a drug test, yet even with over a month’s notice the promoters didn’t reprint the tickets, so its said Joshua v Miller - cost saving or just plain over confidence? Whatever, it will certainly be a quiz question for many years to come, as for Joshua I hope he regains the title in the October rematch in Cardiff.

Finally, it’s great to see young Sussex cricketer, Worthing’s very own Nick Oxley, involved as squad support in the England set up for the World Cup.

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Sussex seem to be dragging their heels over whether to give him a chance but bearing in mind with the huge gaffe with Mason Crane, can they afford to ignore him?

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