It's refreshing to know these jottings are read in the corridors of power.

As a result of my column last week, when I suggested Brighton and Hove City Council should help the Albion financially with the Falmer project, I have received some feedback from the local authority.

I have been assured the council is, contrary to what some people might think, providing the Albion with significant help. I have been asked not to go into details but, fear not, all will be revealed in the near future.

I'm also told by a well-known local businessman with Falmer village connections that the whole process is a smokescreen designed to buy Albion crucial time.

He maintains the club want the tenancy at Withdean when the Ecovert agreement runs out in 2005. He says the athletics track will be moved elsewhere in the city and Albion will redevelop their current home.

If this is the case, someone better telephone Norris McWhirter because it would be the most expensive smokescreen in history. His theory isn't complete fantasy but surely too much money and hard work has gone into Falmer for it to be a stalking horse?

Congratulations to everyone connected with the Falmer For All campaign for publicising the stadium cause so effectively on national television on Monday night during Albion's match against Queens Park Rangers.

The Andrei Kanchelskis transfer saga has excited many Albion fans although some have made comparisons with the Paul Kitson transfer debacle of 12 months ago.

There are no margins for error. When Albion played at the Goldstone Ground and high profile names were signed (Brian Clough, Bobby Smith and Alex Dawson), the financial outlay was almost immediately recouped by an upturn in attendances. If it didn't work out on the pitch, as was the case with Cloughie, it did on the balance sheet.

This is not the case at Withdean with its limited capacity. Steve Coppell has a budget he must work to. I trust his judgement and, if he thinks Kanchelskis is right for Albion, that is good enough for me.

Findon did Sussex cricket proud with their run to the semi-finals of the National Village Cup. I was astonished to discover that unless a new sponsor is found, the men from the Long Furlong won't get another opportunity to go one better next year because it looks like the competition will cease to exist.

Village cricket is a national institution and, if the ECB are as committed as they claim to promoting the game at grassroots level, they should move heaven and earth to find a new backer. Either that or fund it themselves.

I hope Findon will be in the running for the BBC South Team of the Year award.

This is for amateur clubs and, bearing in mind they must now rank among the top village sides in the country, that will hopefully be noted by the judges at television centre in Southampton.

All will be revealed at the end of the year. If Roger Johnson, the sports editor at BBC South, Havelock Road, Southampton, receives lots of reminders about Findon's heroics this summer, that can only help their cause.