Sun 29 - Wed 2 Jul, 11:00
Report: Sussex vs Warwickshire, Rothesay County Championship
Day Four
Warwickshire batted through a rain-affected final day to draw their Rothesay County Championship match with Sussex at Hove.
Tom Latham led the way with 69, and there were half-centuries for skipper Alex Davies and Sam Hain with Warwickshire on 260 for four, a lead of 142, when the players shook hands at 4.50pm. Sussex took 14 points, Warwickshire 13.
After only 21 wickets had fallen on the first three days, there was little likelihood of a clatter on day four, and the already slim odds on Sussex forcing a victory lengthened when 18 overs were lost to rain and bad light before lunch.
Sussex employed spin for most of the day, with Ollie Robinson even bowling two overs of off-breaks to support the efforts of off-spinner Jack Carson and slow left-armer James Coles, who bowled 53.3 overs between them.
There was some occasionally sharp turn out of the rough, and with men clustered around the bat, Warwickshire’s batters needed to be diligent, and they were. The only disappointment was that neither Davies nor Latham, who were well set, could convert their hard work into a century. Hain’s unbeaten 53 came off 170 balls, and he didn’t hit a single boundary.
Warwickshire began on 88 for one, still 30 runs behind, and they knocked off 20 of that deficit in the 25 minutes before bad light, followed by rain forced the players off.
When they returned, Coles struck with his third ball, which spun a little, and Davies edged it to slip where Tom Haines held a reflex catch to his left. Davies’ 58 – his fifth fifty of the season – included nine fours.
Carson had been expected to bowl from the sea end, where Warwickshire’s off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli had taken his six wickets, but it was Coles who settled into a long spell up the slope instead. Robinson, hoping his higher release point might disconcert the batters, gave him a brief respite before Coles returned in the 58th over to pick up a second wicket with his third ball back.
Latham, having played well for 69, clipped a ball to short leg, and Dan Ibrahim clung on to the ball at chest height. The New Zealander had batted for more than three hours and looked good for a few more.
At one stage, Coles bowled to a ring of four fielders 15 yards from the bat on the off side before going off halfway through his 21st over. Carson, meanwhile, was into his 31st over before getting a belated reward for his efforts when Zen Malik (44) was caught at leg slip off bat and pad.
When Carson came off, Fynn Hudson-Prentice bowled some off breaks of his own and even opener Dan Hughes turned his arm over before a halt was called.
Warwickshire coach Ian Westwood said: “When Sussex went past us, there were only two results possible, so I think it was a good effort to bat through today for a solid draw. It was a good wicket – it had carry and spun at the end, and we tried to play positively to try and force a win. But we lost Chris Rushworth after six overs of their innings, which was always going to make things tough, so full credit to the other bowlers, they showed a lot of heart and kept coming in.”
Day Three
James Coles made 150, and there were six wickets for Warwickshire off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli, but despite their efforts, this Rothesay County Championship match is heading for a draw.
Coles’ second successive Championship hundred helped Sussex take a first-innings lead of 118 after their first innings ended on 433, 20 minutes after tea on day three.
It left Warwickshire with 24 overs to get through to stumps, and they closed on 88 for one, losing Rob Yates for 11 when he inside-edged a fine ball from Ollie Robinson onto his middle stump.
Off-spinner Jack Carson nearly broke through late on, but Daniel Ibrahim put down a tough chance at short leg to reprieve skipper Alex Davies, who has so far added 66 with Tom Latham as Warwickshire closed 30 runs in arrears. But the effects of a slow pitch and the Kookaburra ball are likely to ensure a stalemate, especially with some rain in the forecast on the final day.
Coles, 21, made an unbeaten 148 against Durham last week and followed it up with his sixth first-class hundred, sharing stands of 73 with Dan Ibrahim (36), 59 with John Simpson (30) and 50 with Fynn Hudson-Prentice (45) before he was sixth out, caught behind via an inside edge off Ethan Bamber.
He had to be patient for long periods. Even without Chris Rushworth, who injured his hamstring after sending down just three overs on the second day, Warwickshire bowled diligently and fielded well. Coles, unbeaten on 50 overnight, brought up his hundred with an edge to the third boundary just before lunch, but it was one of the few unconvincing shots he played in nearly six-and-a-half hours at the crease when he faced 294 balls, an outstanding effort on another day of sweltering heat at Hove. He hit 19 fours and pulled a six into the pavilion off Oliver Hannon-Dalby.
Warwickshire’s hard work in the field was epitomised by Rocchiccioli, the Western Australian who arrived in England for his first taste of county cricket last month having taken 84 Sheffield Shield wickets since the 2023/24 season. Here he followed up his six wickets on debut against Somerset at Edgbaston last week with six more. Three came on the second day and he had to plug away from the sea end until his 18th over today for further reward when Carson (28) was smartly taken at leg slip.
Rocchiccioli then polished off the innings by removing Gurinder Sandhu and Henry Crocombe with successive deliveries. The 328 balls he sent down was the most in an innings by a Warwickshire bowler since Ashley Giles bowled 68.3 overs against Yorkshire at Headingley in 1996. He just about had the strength to doff his cap to acknowledge the appreciative applause of the crowd after he’d sent down his 50th over.
Bamber was the pick of Warwickshire’s seam attack, picking up Ibrahim who played around a straight one as well as Coles and there was a wicket apiece for Yates and Ed Barnard.
Warwickshire’s Corey Rocchiccioli said, “It’s nice when you can put a shift in like that and be rewarded. I felt I was well supported at the other end and overall as a team we stuck at it during times when nothing much seemed to be happening.
“If I had a dollar for every question I have had about the Kookaburra ball in the last week I’d be a rich man. The ball is different but it would be the same if we were bowling with the Dukes back home in Australia. It can be challenging for bowlers not used to it, around things like reverse swing and when it gets softer after 30-40 overs. Also we’re in the middle of a dry summer, but I don’t think the ball is that much of an issue in my opinion.”
Day Two
Corey Rocchiccioli took three wickets, including Daniel Hughes (151) of the penultimate ball of the day, as Sussex reply to Warwickshire’s 415 in the Rothesay County Championship.
The 36-year-old Australian left-hander was lbw to off-spinner Rocchiccioli as Sussex reached 278 for three.
Hughes had shared an opening partnership of 98 with Tom Haines and then added 142 with James Coles as the combination of a flat pitch, a Kookaburra ball doing little off the straight, and the pitiless Hove heat made it a tough day for Warwickshire’s attack.
Rocchiccioli toiled away manfully, bowling unchanged for two sessions apart from a solitary over, from the sea end to pick up all three Sussex wickets for 94 from 35 overs.
Both Hughes and Coles’ scoring options were limited after tea when Warwickshire skipper Alex Davies employed as many as eight leg-side fielders as he rotated his seamers while Rocchiccioli wheeled away at the other end. It looked like being a fruitless session for the Bears until Rocchiccioli, armed with the new ball, skidded a quicker delivery onto Hughes’ pads for a belated but deserved reward. Hughes’ 151 came off 260 deliveries with 26 fours.
Hughes had only previously passed fifty three times this season, although 60 against Durham last week hinted at a return to form. Here, the majority of his boundaries came through his strong areas between extra cover and mid-off. It was an impressive physical effort too, given the scorching temperatures.
Warwickshire wicketkeeper Kai Smith was convinced Haines had edged a ball from Rocchiccioli in his fourth over, but the umpire was unmoved and in his next over, Haines lofted Rocchiccioli for six, necessitating a ball change. It did the trick as Rocchiccioli got enough grip to knock back Haines’ off stump and end an opening stand of 98 in 22 overs.
Rocchiccioli had a second wicket in the 32nd over when the out-of-form Tom Clark, who’d faced 28 balls for his five, was held low down at slip pushing forward by Tom Latham. Clark made 140 when the teams met at Edgbaston in April, but his last 11 Championship innings have yielded a meagre 79 runs.
Sussex scored 140 in the afternoon session with Hughes reaching his tenth first-class hundred by taking two boundaries in three balls off Ethan Bamber.
The runs dried up after tea, though, as Warwickshire went on the defensive and Rocchiccioli plugged away trying to force a mistake. Even Coles, who likes to get on with it, was becalmed for long spells as 78 were scored in the final session. Coles was still there at the close, though, having passed fifty for the fifth time this season just before stumps.
Earlier, Warwickshire’s last three wickets added a further 43 runs in just under an hour.
Ollie Robinson struck in the second over of the day when he found Smith’s inside edge, and Gurinder Sandhu also claimed his third wicket of the innings when he had Chris Rushworth caught behind. Jack Carson trapped Bamber in front with a ball which kept a shade low to end the innings.
Warwickshire’s Ethan Bamber said: “That last session was a fantastic template for us and showed the character we’ve got in the team. For Corey to basically bowl unchanged for two sessions was exceptional. He got a five-for on debut last week and is an exceptional person in the dressing room and he bowled phenomenally again today, he is a great asset for us to have.”
Day One
Sam Hain and Ed Barnard, with a fifth wicket stand of 151 in 32 overs, gave Warwickshire the advantage on the opening day of their championship match against Sussex at Hove, before the home side fought back to achieve parity at the close.
Hain played a particularly exhilarating innings, using his feet and wrists to play a medley of inventive strokes to unsettle the Sussex bowlers. He reached his half century for the fifth time in as many championship innings and went on to make 87 from 118 deliveries, with three sixes and seven fours. Barnard, impressive in a support role, made 66.
It would have been worse for Sussex but for Henry Crocombe, their fastest and best bowler yesterday in only his second game of the season. Crocombe missed the start of the summer with injury but took six wickets in the win over Hampshire in May. Here, he took three wickets for 73, bending his back and achieving some pace.
Sussex and Warwickshire started the match without the respective services of Jofra Archer and Jacob Bethell, but with the shared hope that both players might be available for the last two days of the game if not selected by England for the second Test against India at Edgbaston; Crocombe replaced Archer from the side that drew with Durham last week, while Zen Malik came in for Bethell in the side that had a similar stalemate with Somerset. Chris Rushworth also came in for Che Simmons.
The warm weather and the Kookaburra ball helped persuade Warwickshire to bat first. But the cloud cover and the grassy pitch still offered encouragement to the Sussex seamers.
The first session went Warwickshire’s way, their batsman exploiting the short boundary on the pavilion side of the ground as Sussex struggled for penetration.
Rob Yates looked in particularly good form as he shared an opening stand of 79 with his captain, Alex Davies. Davies gifted Sussex their first wicket in the 18th over, looking in two minds as he uppercut a short delivery from Crocombe to Fynn Hudson-Prentice on the deep point boundary. But Warwickshire lunched on a comfortable 113 for one.
The second session, when the sun came out and the ball turned soft, promised further riches for the batting side. But Sussex, protecting their seven bowlers from the heat with short spells, and backing them up with spirited fielding, fought their way back onto level terms.
Warwickshire lost their second wicket on 174 when Tom Latham edged one down the legside from Crocombe, ending a second wicket stand of 95. And one run later, in Crocombe’s next over, Hudson-Prentice produced an excellent reflex catch, hands above his head at backwards square-leg, to dismiss Yates, who had struck 15 fours in his impressive 93 from 142 deliveries. Six overs later, the challenging Gurinder Sandhu moved one away from Malik, for John Simpson to take the regulation catch behind the stumps, and Sussex were on top, with Warwickshire 189 for four, though they recovered to 242 for four at tea.
Sussex took the new ball at 308 for four and took three further wickets. Crocombe (who will make way if Archer joins the game) almost had Hain caught by Ollie Robinson, who finally had the batsman well caught at leg gully by Tom Haines. Then Barnard and Corey Rocchiccioli fell near the end.
Rob Yates said, “There was a good crowd. There was a nice atmosphere, and it felt like a festival day. It does help when the sun’s out. The crowd had really good value. It was a really good day of cricket. It’s a good cricket wicket. And it was a fair day for both sides.
“I think the first hour in the morning will be really important. And we’ll go from there.”
