Sussex finally revel in most glorious of days

Gloucestershire 367 and 149 for 8 (Taylor 52*, Jordan 4-32) trail Sussex 527 (Wells 120, Brown 113, Jordan 52, M Taylor 4-130) by 11 runs Scorecard

Just for a day, in this, a toughest season for Sussex, Hove felt like the Hove of yesteryear.

The sun shone, of course it did. And the seagulls swarmed in the breeze, barking away like the gobbiest of glovemen down the village green. A batsman called Wells resumed 100 not out, before a freewheeling wicketkeeper batsman – it could easily have been Matt Prior, Tim Ambrose or even Jim Parks, but it was Ben Brown – cut and punched his way to a century in building a 160-run lead.

Then the bowlers – looking a beautifully balanced attack – blew Gloucestershire away to leave Sussex within an inch of a second win of the season. Chris Jordan was in magical form, with four wickets, 52 runs and, as ever, a stunning moment in the field.

Sussex’s coach Mark Davis neatly – if accidentally – summed up what child’s play the day had been as he joined the hoards of fans on the outfield at lunch and tea, to play a spot of cricket with his little son. His team, evidently, was taking care of itself and Davis was not the only man with a smile on his face and weight off his shoulders.

There has not been much to smile about in the last 12 months in these parts. Sussex sleepwalked their way – via a hideous injury list – to relegation in the season that nobody could afford to be relegated. They lost their long-time, highly-respected coach, Mark Robinson, to England Women. One of their players – a team-mate and friend to all and housemate to some – then died.

When this sombre season began, the injuries …

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