War of attrition at Chester Le Street ends with handshake

In front of 25 hard core away fans Durham and Sussex played out a hard-fought draw allowing 14 precious away points keeping the club in an encouraging 3rd place in the Rothesay Division One table. It’s a tough place to go and it can be revealed that the Sussex squad had a ten hour slog up the M1.

After choosing to bat it was soon apparent that the Riverside pitch wasn’t going to aid much assistance for batter or bowler. It was a little ‘docile’ meaning that players had to put extra effort into hitting and bowling. Tom Clark at three demonstrated what was needed with a patient knock of 30 off 74 balls taking us to lunch. James Coles is proving to be a worthy ‘player of the season’ candidate calmly batting out till the end of the day. He then went on the attack 2nd day to score 148 not out as Sussex came to rest on a competitive 361 all out.

Durham also batted well through out day 2 facing a potent Sussex attack. Jofra Archer, making his seasonal debut, bowled quite nicely but it was the new incoming overseas, Gurinder Sandhu, who took the eye. Indeed, he had the away section buzzing when taking the dangerous Ackermann last ball of the day. It was all smiles heading out for the evening’s entertainment.

Sandhusuddenly finding that docile track to his liking on day three as he enjoyed an excellent debut. He ended up with five wickets. In truth though with Durham just a handful of runs behind a draw seem to be beckoning. Ibrahim and Coles showed diligence batting through till close of play. Truncated by a bout of bad light.

In perhaps the best contribution of Ibrahim’s young Sussex career he produced his most telling moments on day 4. The hosts were revved up as they looked to break the game wide open. They set very offensive fields, chirped away as Durham Man of the Match Matthew Potts and Raine steamed in with aggression and accuracy. However, Danny and the Skipper held off all challenges making it to lunch unscathed. That allowed Sussex to dictate matters during the afternoon procession. Ibrahim earning my Man of the Match award calmly going to an unbeaten century. Danny, if you are reading huge congratulations, I am super proud of you. Now go do it again!

With Durham being the longest away trip for Sussex fans it was wonderful to see so many had made the effort. Under grey skies and cool temperatures for most parts there was a general feeling of having had a great time in the northeast. I caught up with two long term Sussex supporters who are very active on the Inner Circle Sussex Fans forum Leigh Latham and Joe ‘seafret’ Piercy both from Brighton. Leigh was taken to his 1st match in the late 60s when John Snow and Tony Greg were playing. On leaving school in 1979 he went to as many matches as he could before he started playing himself. He started going regularly at the turn of the century. ‘A few of us got together and started going to three or four away games a season’. ‘we went on to become the best team in the country!’. He recalled ‘in 2006 we won the Championship at Trent Bridge and us fans were invited to the players hotel to celebrate, that was a great day’. On a negative note Leigh through gritted teeth ‘1993 Lords, least said about that the better, A Din scored big that day and Warwickshire scored 14 off the last over to win’. Leigh has continued to support the club through the lean years and is now delighted that club is back on the rise. Joe’s first game was an Australian tour match in 1975. After university Joe got back to it in 1998 and became a member. He has been a regular since seeing the club through the boom and lean times. Both fans smile at the mention of the John Player League. Joe said ‘that was a thoroughly enjoyable competition, and we won it in 1982 going unbeaten. It was the only place you could get a beer during a Sunday afternoon’

To conclude Durham v Sussex perhaps won’t be a match that sticks in the memory for too long, unless of course your name is Danny Ibrahim, but Sussex once again demonstrated they are a force to be reckoned with in the Rothesay County Championship. Huge thanks to Durham CCC for looking after us all and good luck for the season. But its Sussex who were always in control of this one.

Bring on the Bears!

Colin Bowman27/6/2025