Sussex happy with season’s start after rain thwarts Yorkshire at Hove

Heavy overnight and early morning rain saturated the 1st Central County Ground.. Umpires Rob White and Neil Pratt made multiple inspections in an attempt to get the game started, culminating in a final look at 4.30.

Fifteen minutes later it ended with coaches and players shaking hands. The decision was the right one. Within a few minutes another heavy shower put an end to any argument about whether play was possible.

For Yorkshire, needing 63 to win with seven wickets in hand, it was another frustrating experience in a season which has seen them lose a tight game to Leicestershire and then have their match against Gloucestershire washed out without a ball being bowled.

Sussex, meanwhile, have been encouraged by a win and a draw against two of the stronger sides in the division.

Sussex coach Paul Farbrace said: "Yorkshire were very keen to get out there and play, and if we’d been in their situation it would have been exactly the same for us. It was one of those days where if it had been 200 or 250 to win we would probably have gone home at lunchtime.

“The umpires did a great job, the ground staff did a great job and everyone tried to get the game on, which is what we should be doing. County cricket is about playing, not sitting in changing rooms. We were potentially on the wrong end of the day. But you never know in county cricket. We turned up yesterday and we were in the ascendancy. By the end of the day Yorkshire had played really well and got themselves into a great position.

“Justifiably, they wanted to stay as long as they could. And I woulld have been exactly the same in their situation. If I was Yorkshire going home on the bus I’d be saying we’d been robbed. You need 60 odd to win with seven wickets in hand, you normally win the game from that situation.

“They’ve had a tough start, with a tight defeat to Leicester in a run chase and then not bowling a ball at Bristol before being robbed by the rain again here. That would be their view and I’d have a lot of sympathy for them. But that’s the nature of sport.

“Our ground staff worked incredibly hard today to get the game on, as they should do.

“What I’m pleased about is that we’ve played two really top sides in Durham and Yorkshire and we’ve got a win and a draw. And for a lot of this game we were on top. I’m really pleased with our skill levels, and it’s great we can compete with two Division One teams with two great bowling attacks. We’re a team capable of beating good sides. I think Tom Alsop is a good player, and I always have done. He’s an outstanding cricketer. And I love Jack Carson. I thought he was outstanding. He’s fiery, competitive and skilful.

Yorkshire coach Otis Gibson added: “I wish the sun was as warm as it is at home in Barbados so it could dry the ground a bit quicker and we’d have got even 40 minutes in this evening. That would probably would have been enough for us to get the job done. But it’s not to be.

“We played well, and that’s what I’ve said to the guys just now. The way we bowled having given up a lead is the template for us going forwards. That’s the way we need to approach it.

“Had we bowled better on the first day, perhaps we would have got a different outcome.

“When you’re behind the eight-ball, you need your key players to stand up. And everybody stood up. They showed a lot of skill, great character and fighting spirit and togetherness as well.

“To bowl them out for 137 on that pitch - it was still a good pitch - was a great effort.

“Jonny (Bairstow) is going to play this week against Notts at Headingley in the twos. We’ll go and have a look at him and see how he goes. He’s had such a long lay-off, so it’s a fitness assessment for him to see what his capacity is and what he can do on the field in terms running around in the outfield or standing behind the stumps. He will probably do both to see which one he’s most comfortable with.”

Sussex start their next match against Gloucestershire at Bristol on Thursday.