Date-stamped : 12 May97 - 06:15 Middlesex take it out on inferiors By Charles Randall at Lord`s Middlesex (132-3) bt Sussex (131-9) by 7 wkts LIKE fleas with smaller fleas Middlesex thrashed Sussex at Lord`s yesterday a week after being outclassed by Essex. After Middlesex`s debacle at Chelmsford one could be forgiven for wondering if they would win any of their one-day games this summer. As events turned out, it was Sussex who proved to be their inferiors - which was quite an achievement. This was Sussex`s third defeat in three league games, and they never came to terms with some improved Middlesex bowling on a sluggish pitch. Without a record last-wicket stand of 39 - surprisingly, the best against any opposition - Sussex would have been done and dusted much earlier than it was. That was 11 overs early even then. Angus Fraser, who had bowled rather poorly in the championship match, produced a most economical return of three wickets for 10 in eight overs. He began by ripping out Peter Moores`s off-stump to ensure there would be no proper recovery and he really appeared to enjoy himself. He rapidly removed Paul Jarvis and Nicholas Phillips. Sussex managed only five boundaries in their entire innings, three of those by Amer Khan during an unlikely last- wicket partnership with Mark Robinson, which surpassed the previous best stand by John Snow and Don Bates way back in 1969, the league`s inaugural year. It was tedious stuff generally for a thin crowd, though Middlesex could hardly have done more, and Mark Ramprakash`s 57 not out off 72 balls was certainly a quality innings. He struck five fours and a six, building up momentum after the loss of two early wickets and two overs to a rain shower. A run of four consecutive one-day defeats was comprehensively broken. The afternoon started with four wides first ball by James Hewitt, which did not seem to augur well, and he added another wide that over for luck. Sussex`s brisk start for the first half-hour promised a lively contest. Mark Newell, a good cricketer, like his injured brother Keith, proved ineffective this time, with 19 singles and a two as his sum total. In retrospect he probably wished he had had a dart at the short Tavern leg-side boundary. Khan hit his first boundary, Sussex`s third, with an inside edge past the stumps, but his next two were solid, and he showed how far short of an acceptable performance Sussex had fallen. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)