Derbyshire v Sussex, 15th-18th August
by Alan Rowley, 18th August 2001

Day one

Derbyshire went into this Championship game against Sussex with a considerably weakened side. Skipper Dominic Cork was sidelined still with a hamstring injury, whilst Michael Di Venuto was absent due to the groin strain he received in the victory over Durham.

Sussex started well on a perfect batting strip with openers Murray Goodwin (67) and Richard Montgomerie (19) putting on 56 for the first wicket. Montgomerie was first to fall caught by Paul Aldred in the covers off the bowling of Trevor Smith. Former Derbyshire skipper Chris Adams joined Goodwin and the pair took the score to 106 before Adams was caught behind by Karl Krikken off Aldred.

After Goodwin departed with the score on 118, the Sussex batsmen batted poorly and only a fine maiden Championship half-century from Mark Davis put some respectability into the total. Davis' fifty came in 167 minutes and he ended the day on 51 not out with the Sussex total on 273 for 8. Not a great score on a peach of a track.

Day two

Opener Luke Sutton frustrated the Division Two leaders with a fine and patient near five hour century at the County Ground. Sutton ended the day on exactly 100 not out as he rescued the home side from trouble after they were 19 for 2.

Resuming at 273 for 8, Sussex were dismissed for 280 with Kevin Dean and Trevor Smith finishing with four wickets apiece.

Derbyshire's top order was again poor with only Karl Krikken (32) getting going. If Murray Goodwin hadn't put down Sutton when he had scored only three, the Derbyshire innings would have been in tatters. James Kirtley was the unfortunate bowler, but the Sussex pace man had cause to celebrate as he claimed his fiftieth wicket of the season, along with Jason Lewry.

Derbyshire closed the second day on 198 for 6, still 82 runs behind, but with Sutton still going strong they could still pass the Sussex total.

Day three

Luke Sutton became the first Derbyshire batsman for six seasons to carry his bat through the innings. Sutton's 140 not out took six and a half hours to accumulate and ensured that Derbyshire finished their first innings just 17 runs adrift of the league leader's total.

Derbyshire ended their first innings on 263 and by the end of day three, the match was finally balanced as the visitors clawed their way to 224 for 8 - a lead of 241.

For Sussex, Chris Adams scored 59 from 92 balls to frustrate his former county as he shared half-century stands with Michael Yardy and Robin Martin-Jenkins. Mark Davis played another vital role as he ended the day unbeaten on 43 after Sussex had struggled to 146 for 6. Davis had already score 52 in the Sussex first innings.

A fascinating tussle is in prospect for the final day.

Day four

Derbyshire, after looking to be reasonably placed overnight to cause an upset, fell to earth with a bump at the County Ground. Another woefully inadequate display saw league leaders Sussex steam-roller their way to an easy victory.

Sussex added six runs to their overnight score before Graeme Welch snapped up the final two wickets to finish with 4 for 58. This left the home side a total of 248 to win, with the best part of a whole day to get them in.

By lunch, Derbyshire's illusions of victory had evaporated as they crumbled to 35 for 5. After the break, wickets continued to fall and by 3:15pm the game was lost. Luke Sutton came within a whisker of carrying his bat through the whole game as he was last man out, caught behind for 54.

For Sussex, Mark Robinson finished with 5 for 38 to leave Sussex in a strong position to gain promotion to Division One.