Sussex win County Championship Division 2 title after Haines and Coles centuries

On a surprisingly low-key morning in Hove, Sussex went about their business with true professionalism as Haines and partner Tom Alsop accumulated steadily.

Middlesex, whose promotion hopes had been quashed as Yorkshire sealed the second spot in 2025’s Division One on Saturday, remained true to their task too, testing the batsmen with some tidy bowling.

The day was all about Sussex’s creep towards title glory, however, which was eventually sealed just after Lunch had been taken.

Story of the morning

With the English cricketing summer reaching its conclusion on Sunday, the greatest interest was on the action at Hove, with promotions, relegations and the Division One title already settled.

Sussex required 138 more runs on top of their overnight score of 112-2 to secure the precious batting point that would take them to 225 points for the season.

This would ensure that Yorkshire – who could only finish on a maximum of 225 if they pulled off an unlikely win against Northamptonshire – could not finish above them.

Under overcast skies, Haines and Alsop emerged to grind out the remaining runs.

Their task was mostly to see off Middlesex spinners Luke Hollman and Josh de Caires, who bowled tight lines and gave very little away for free.

Haines was the more expansive of the two batsmen, striking freely around the ground while Alsop’s task was to cover up and soak up pressure.

Alsop eventually took a liking to the spinners, however, and a smattering of boundaries took him to his half-century from 114 balls, before he struck a sizeable six off de Caires into the Sharks Stand in celebration.

Unfortunately, the ex-Hampshire batsman could not go on to make his first Championship century of the season, falling for 66 from 131 balls as he sent De Caires to substitute fielder Nathan Fernandes on the leg side boundary.

Nonetheless, Haines did convert his score into a landmark innings.

The Crawley-born batsman made his third century of the season, and the 12th of his Championship career, with a display of tremendous grit and ambition, ensuring the final day had a personal memory as well as the team’s plaudits.

After 13 fours and some admirable patience amidst the scoring too, Haines finally perished just 17 runs of the 250-run target, bowled by Hollman for 105, but had served his purpose brilliantly.

James Coles and John Simpson saw Sussex to their goal just after the Lunch interval, albeit with the moment of glory being rather an anti-climax.

In the second over of the afternoon session, and with the score on 249-4, Hollman bowled a no ball to Simpson, conceding two runs for overstepping.

Nonetheless, there were huge celebrations from the fans and members in the stands, and the staff and players on the balcony, to mark the achievement.

From thereon, it was a matter of when the day would end.

Slow close to the season

After 1pm, the match had lost its jeopardy and the Sussex batsmen simply set out to keep scoring bonus points.

The action became slightly turgid as Hollman and de Caires span through their overs to get Middlesex towards their allocation, but as the visitors turned to some more unorthodox options, interest was piqued.

Coles and Simpson accelerated against the occasional off-spin of Leus du Plooy, Mark Stoneman – with one career First Class wicket – and wicket-keeper Jack Davies, bowling for the first time as a professional.

The batsmen both reached their half-centuries in decent time, and then accelerated after Tea – to the required minimum cut-off time of 4:10pm, so that Coles could score his first hundred of the season and Simpson extend his Championship run-scoring lead in the squad.

Coles was on 132 not out from 150 balls, and Simpson an unbeaten 87 from 147, by the time the teams finally shook hands, with Simpson warmly embraced considering his Middlesex past.

Final day glory

With the cricket for 2024 done, it left only the trophy celebrations to take place, with champagne sprayed liberally and smiles beamed across the faces of players, staff and fans as the campaign came to a close.

It confirmed a fourth draw to go with eight wins and only two defeats in Division Two this season, with Sussex reaching 237 points to finish 20 points of nearest challengers Yorkshire.

After it all began in early April, the end in bitter late September chill was as sweet as they come.

Players and staff have been near faultless, with results bringing the together in a way that has not been seen in the last decade, and restoring optimism at Hove.

2024 is a year that Sussex will never forget, and for good reason.

Champions of Division Two, and with plans for Division One already.