GRAHAM Gooch, former England Cricket Captain revisited his past in Eastbourne recently as he arrived in town to open a new car dealership.

The 71-year-old sporting legend was invited to Eastbourne to open the brand-new Omoda showroom on Lottbridge Drove, owned by the Birchwood Group.

During his visit, Gooch was offered a test drive of the newly-arrived Omoda E5 fully-electric SUV and decided to visit The Saffrons where he played his first league game in 1973.

Stopping to see how the grounds had changed since his earlier days, Gooch told East Sussex News: “I always enjoyed coming to Eastbourne and I remember the match very well. My Wife and I still come to Eastbourne from Essex to walk the Seven Sisters and along the beach.”

Graham was in town to officially open the Omoda dealership, which is a new brand of premium luxury SUVs to hit the UK from China. It offers, at this time, two models – the Omoda S, which is a 1.6 petrol-powered SUV and boasts a base price of only £25,735. Whilst a fully electric (E5) version can travel around 280 miles on a full charge and starts from £33,555.

Although Omoda is a new brand in the UK, the parent company in China, Chery Automobile Co. Ltd, is one to be reckoned with. It reports that it has become the top exporter of Chinese passenger vehicles since 2003. The company exported 269,154 vehicles in 2021, 451,337 vehicles in 2022 and 937,148 vehicles in 2023.

The Birchwood Group, which has opened the new dealership is now offering test drives from its base next to Birchwood Ford and is running special offers on the range from launch.