By Christopher Lyles at Hove
First day of four: Warwickshire 276-1 v Sussex
WARWICKSHIRE'S championship form has been wretched of late. They have lost more matches than any other team and their batting form has been abject.
Their highest opening partnership hitherto was only 59 and they had not gained a batting bonus point for more than a month.
Third-placed Sussex, on the other hand, had their tails up but had them put firmly between their legs yesterday as Nick Knight and Michael Powell put an innocuous bowling attack to the sword with an opening partnership of 272.
And that after Chris Adams had won the toss and invited the visitors to bat.
Adams obviously hoped that some dampness under the pitch and the cloudy atmosphere, together with an improving weather forecast, would work in Sussex's favour. But his plan backfired spectacularly. After some playing and missing against a ball which swung in the first session, Knight and Powell settled down on an excellent batting wicket.
Powell especially played with great equanimity although he survived one chance to Wasim Khan in the gully when he had made 21. His hundred, which came from 219 deliveries and included 13 fours, was his maiden first-class century.
Knight began scratchily surviving a vociferous leg before appeal against James Kirtley to the first ball he faced but his footwork improved as his innings progressed, and his second century of the season came from 210 balls and included 11 boundaries.
There were precious few people there, however, to see Powell eventually fall for 132. By pushing back the start of play to 1pm, Sussex hoped to entice more spectators into the ground for the evening session, but although admission was free after 6pm, the crowd was smaller than earlier in the day.
Day 2: Lara fails to press home the advantage
By Christopher Lyles at Hove
Second day of four: Warwickshire 489-8 v Sussex
APART from the drama of Brian Lara's second-ball duck, it was attritional fair here yesterday as Warwickshire struggled to build on the solid foundations laid by Nick Knight and Michael Powell. And that will have gladdened Sussex captain Chris Adams after his decision to insert the visitors on Wednesday morning.
His bowlers maintained a respectable line and length on a pitch that was predominantly good and true, if a little on the slow side. But it was sometimes difficult to fathom Warwickshire's tactics. Presumably, it was their intention to amass a formidable total then bowl out Sussex twice.
But their lack of urgency played into the hands of Sussex, who were content to simply keep the scoring to a minimum. In the first session, when 34 overs were bowled, Warwickshire scored only 76 runs and managed just two boundaries. What is more, they failed to secure a fourth batting point and lost three wickets in the process.
In defence of Knight, he looked more comfortable at the crease following the tonic of Wednesday's century and it was he who hit the two boundaries. The out-of-touch David Hemp could barely get the ball off the square and his 19 runs spanned 36 overs.
When Knight perished looking to secure that elusive batting point, Lara was perilously close to being leg-before to the first ball he faced as he played Jason Lewry towards leg. The next ball, umpire Mervyn Kitchen answered in the affirmative.
Lara looked a forlorn figure after his second consecutive nought. His team lie in the nether region of the table and his first-class batting average this season is a trifling 22.
In all, 27 overs were lost to drizzle and bad light and if Sussex can avoid following on, some collusion between the captains may be necessary to insure a fourth-innings run chase.
Day 3: Giddins makes his presence felt
By Christopher Lyles at Hove
Third day of four: Sussex (172 & 49-1) trail Warwickshire (490-9 dec) by 269 runs
ED GIDDINS would probably rather have been at Lord's making his Test Match debut against South Africa, but helping to bowl out the county that sacked him 22 months ago might rank a close second.
The renascent Giddins, who came into this match as the country's leading wicket-taker, is playing against Sussex for the first time since his involuntary sabbatical for extra-curricular activities and he has been assured by David Graveney that his name is very much in the minds of the selectors. His performance will have done nothing to remove it.
He bowled with determination and acumen on a pitch that gave him a negligible assistance and his first-innings figures of three for 34 included the key wickets of Chris Adams and a patently disgruntled Michael Bevan. With excellent support from the rest of the Warwickshire attack and wicket-keeper Keith Piper his performance certainly helped to justify Warwickshire's painstaking progress of Thursday.
Brian Lara declared after the addition of one run and the loss of Ashley Giles, and Sussex soon lost the in-form Wasim Khan when Giddins induced him to edge to Piper.
The nature of the pitch was emphasised by Lara's decision to employ spin from both ends as early as the 18th over but it was Dougie Brown who bowled Mark Newell behind his legs to break the second-wicket resistance. Thereafter only Toby Peirce offered any resistance as Sussex capitulated to follow on 318 runs behind. His 64 came from 208 deliveries and he was out shortly after tea.
The tea interval was taken at 6.10, and it might have been pertinent to call it as 'the G and T interval'. The Sussex mandarins would have envisaged a similar scenario (without the batting collapse) when they pushed the start of play back to 1pm but the crowd was still disappointingly small.
Day 4: Lara fills in blanks
By Christopher Lyles at Hove
BRIAN LARA did not make a run in this match but the Warwickshire captain's disappointment at his personal run of poor form will have been assuaged by yesterday's confidence-boosting victory after three consecutive championship defeats.
Sussex, though, came close to salvaging a draw after their ninth wicket had fallen with more than an our still to play.
James Kirtley and Mark Robinson, the perennial No 11 who has scored less runs in 178 first class matches than Lara in one innings, resisted for 17 overs as Warwickshire crowded the bat and there were only 10 minutes to spare when Michael Powell lunged down the pitch from short leg and caught the gallant Robinson one-handed of Neil Smith.
Warwickshire's relief was as evident as Sussex's dejection. Sussex began the final day in the unenviable position of having followed on and still being 269 runs behind with nine second innings wickets remaining.
Ed Giddins soon had Mark Newell smartly caught at second slip by Nick Knight to take his total for the season to 40 wickets.
Enter Chris Adams. If Sussex were to survive, two batsmen would have to play substantial innings and the likelihood was that it would be the captain and his Australian deputy, Michael Bevan, who would be called upon to fulfil the saviours' role. Bevan soon joined Adams after Toby Peirce had been caught from a top-edged sweep and they put on 118 in 27 overs in a partnership of breathtaking quality.
Adams batted quite beautifully for his 79 made from 106 deliveries and including 13 fours and a six. When he plays as he did yesterday, with power and timing on both sides of the wicket, there are few better sights in cricket. He perished giving Smith the charge and suitably castigated himself.
Bevan also played with great aplomb and having made his fifty from only 71 balls, he battened down the hatches after Adam's dismissal.
Alex Edwards and Shaun Humphries gave him gritty support as they attempted to block the bowlers out but when Bevan was seventh out, caught at slip off Ashley Giles with 27 overs remianing, it seemed Warwickshire had broken the back of resistance, especially when Humphries fell in the next over and Jason Lewry's short vigil ended after nine overs. And then came the heroic last wicket stand.
For Adams, the match will have been a lesson in captaincy but he need not resign in defeat in a game in which his calculated gamble of putting Warwickshire into bat rebounded on him.
If he had told his new employers in April that their team would be in third place in the championship two months later with three victories under their belt they would have gleefully accepted it. With the doleful memories of last summer still fresh in their minds and despite the first innings batting collapse in this match, there is a more of a confident air in the team and Adams should take much credit for that.
As for Lara, his worrying form can be resolved by two or three hours at the wicket.