County Championship 2025. Division 1. Sussex v Somerset 11^th, 12^th, 13^th and 14^th April. Hove.

Sussex. D.P. Hughes, T.J. Haines, T.G.R. Clark, T.P. Alsop, J.M. Coles, J.A. Simpson (c) (w), F.J. Hudson-Prentice, D.J. Lamb, J.J. Carson, J.N.T. Seales, S.F. Hunt.

Somerset. A.M. Vaughan, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory (c), K.L. Aldridge, M. Pretorius, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Sussex 294 and 501 for 7 dec. Somerset 201 and 125 for 4. Somerset need 470 to win with six second innings wickets standing.

Final day – Just a matter of when

“Well, that was an unexpected win.” Such was the view of one Sussex supporter expressed to a friend as they walked away from the ground after his team, newly promoted to the First Division, had won by 260 runs. They were but two of a number of home team supporters who walked along Selborne Road with a spring in their step after the match. If the discipline which newly promoted Sussex had shown, batting and bowling, throughout the match were to continue, it would not be their last win of the season was my thought. It was only the end of the second round of matches, but being tied for first place in the embryonic First Division table probably did not flatter their early season form. By comparison, Somerset had looked flat in this match, at the start at least. Perhaps they were still recovering from those gruelling 200 overs of a week before when they had failed to bowl out Worcestershire at Taunton on the final two days of that match.

The mood of Somerset supporters was very different from that of the Sussex one. “That’s our Championship challenge over,” one lifelong Somerset supporter had said to me at the end of the third day. Hopes had been high during the winter when Somerset had signed Matt Henry, the second most-effective pace bowler in the world in 2025 after Jasprit Bumrah. But Henry’s subsequent sickening fall onto his shoulder during a T20 International in New Zealand had come as a hammer blow. Although Somerset had announced that, because of the injury, Henry would not be available before May, most supporters, having seen replays of Henry’s fall, doubted he would be available for any Championship matches, or at best, two or three. Craig Overton, the talisman of the Somerset bowling attack, had been rested for this match too. There had been two views about that among the Somerset supporters I spoke to. The first, that it was important to rest him at Hove because he would be needed for the next three matches against the strength of Hampshire, Surrey and Essex, the first two of those away from home. The second, that he should have played against newly promoted Sussex in an attempt to get Somerset’s season moving with a win against a newly promoted side.

As to the cricket, Somerset entered the final morning in a remarkably similar position to the one in which Worcestershire had entered the final morning a week before. Both faced huge deficits, and neither had any prospect of winning. Both would have to bat the entire final day to salvage a draw from matches in which they had been behind from the first morning. Worcestershire had had five wickets standing overnight, Somerset had six. For Worcestershire, Brett D’Oliveira and Matthew Waite had batted nearly 60 overs of the final day for the seventh wicket, and the last wicket was still intact 47 overs later as Somerset’s two spinners toiled away. Now, it was Somerset’s turn with the bat. There was a decent-sized crowd for a final day with entry set at half price. Two enclaves of Somerset supporters occupied either end of the Sharks Stand roughly at long off to the right-hander facing bowling from the Sea End. As the day unwound, they made their presence felt.

Sussex began the final day without left arm pace bowler Sean Hunt, already with nine wickets in the match, following an injury to his bowling arm. It was Sussex though who struck first. Jayden Seales bowled the first ball of the second over from the Cromwell Road End to James Rew. The ball forced a rushed defensive push from Rew from which it looped off the edge and was caught by Tom Haines in the gully. Somerset 126 for 5. Rew 20. To put Somerset’s position in perspective, they still needed a nominal 475 runs to win. The hopes of Somerset supporters for the day had been pinned on Rew, Tom Abell, 60 not out overnight, and Lewis Gregory, due to bat after Kasey Aldridge who was now walking to the wicket. The loss of Rew so early felt like a body blow.

At Taunton, Worcestershire had repeatedly pushed the front foot down the wicket with bat alongside, or raised it to leave the ball, as their main method of coping with the need to bat out the final day. In the process, they scored 205 runs in 112 overs. Abell and Aldridge began differently, a boundary coming in five of the first seven overs of their partnership, and 24 runs in all. Three of the boundaries though came off the edge. One, from Abell, flew wide of the four slips, while the other two, one from each batter, fell short. Seales was the bowler on each occasion, his smooth run and action producing constant threat.

Abell and Aldridge shifted their tactics to defence, only a single came in the next three overs. Then, Aldridge was dropped off Seales, cutting uppishly to backward point where Fynn Hudson-Prentice took off and got both hands to the ball. Seales though was nothing if not persistent. Aldridge responded with a drive at a ball wide of off stump, the ball move away late, Aldridge followed it and edged it to John Simpson behind the stumps. Somerset 152 for 6, Aldridge 14. With still a minimum of 84 overs to be played, the noose was tightening. If Somerset were to have a realistic hope of saving the game, a substantial partnership would almost certainly be needed from Abell and Lewis Gregory. But, as Gregory emerged from the dressing room next to the Pavilion, the Sussex crowd, sensing victory, was buzzing with anticipation.

When Abell drove Jack Carson’s off spin through extra cover to the gap between the Pavilion and the Sharks Stand a Somerset supporter in front of me revealed the extent of most Somerset hopes. “Shot! Good shot!” he said, but continued, “If we could see Abell get a ton, it would at least give us something to cheer about.” Four overs for four singles followed as the Abell-Gregory partnership settled. With the end of Seales’ spell, the element of threat diminished, and the chatter from the Sussex crowd became quiet and relaxed, as if they were just waiting for the next wicket.

Now, Gregory and Abell began to attack the bowling. There was little sense of Worcestershire’s endless, in the end, day-long, obdurate defence. Gregory spectacularly cut Tom Clark’s medium pace square for four and clipped him behind square for another four. Abell drove James Coles’ slow left arm straight back to the Sea End for four more. The boundaries drew applause from the crowd and cheers from the goodly number of Somerset supporters who had stayed on for the final day. They, at least, were being given a lift. Gregory continued, driving Clark through the off side for another four and Coles sharply through extra cover to the gap between the Pavilion and Sharks Stand and the two enclaves of Somerset supporters it contained. The ball was still moving so quickly when it reached the rope that it took off and flew through the gap to the concourse behind from where a passing spectator threw it back. Abell and Gregory were batting with some ease, although along the way Abell was dropped by a diving substitute fielder at square leg. It was a teeth-clenching escape, and the scoreboard still showed a minimum of 67 overs remaining. Twenty-nine overs had gone since the start, but they had cost Somerset two of their remaining six wickets. To a Somerset supporter, six o clock seemed an awfully long way off.

But lunch was approaching, a milestone at least, a break from the tension, and a third of the day would be gone. Abell glanced Danny Lamb’s medium pace, the ball shot up from the boundary rope and bisected two spectators as they reached for it as it flew into the Sharks Stand. It brought cheers from the enclaves of Somerset supporters, and a single driven to point off Coles in the next over took Abell to 96. It brought the thought too that if Abell and Gregory could survive into the afternoon session, the number of overs remaining would begin to fall to a level that might bring realistic hope to Somerset, for there was still little evidence of meaningful help for the bowlers from the pitch, Seales apart.

No sooner was the thought born than it died. Abell attempted to coax Lamb wide of the two slips but succeeded only in edging it to Tom Alsop at first slip. The Sussex cheer was deafening as it engulfed Somerset ears and the applause for Lamb which followed rattled around in the Somerset head as if it had entered an echo chamber. “Could have done without that,” said the disappointed voice in front of me before the applause for Abell broke out from Somerset and Sussex supporters alike. Somerset 205 for 7. Abell 96. Overs remaining 65, down to 63 at lunch with Gregory and Migael Pretorius at the crease.

The re-start saw the Somerset batters playing with some ease. Pretorius did edge Coles close to the stumps and Sussex brought Simpson up for Lamb. Nothing happened though that you might not expect during the normal run of play, although the impending arrival of the new ball was entering the conversation. The Sussex supporter along from me seemed resigned to waiting for it as he sat reading a book. And, in truth, there was little tension in the air. Just the relaxed chatter that had been a feature of the day. It was as if people were just enjoying a day at the cricket whilst awaiting its inevitable conclusion. Pretorius brought some life to proceedings with an on driven four off Coles followed by a lofted on drive for three. Gregory meanwhile added to his reputation for having a laid-back persona with a controlled off drive for an ambled single. When he found the boundary off Lamb it was with a neat deflection from an open face. The boundary took Somerset to 236 for 7, but the total was irrelevant. What was relevant were the 56 overs remaining in the day and Somerset’s three remaining wickets.

With the new ball four overs away, Pretorius began to put bat to ball with a purpose. With Carson bowling from the Sea End, he drove him off successive balls through extra cover and then cover to the Pavilion boundary. Lamb was pulled square to the Pavilion boundary and immediately driven through the covers for three towards the long boundary opposite the Pavilion. The three gave Pretorius the strike and Carson was driven through the close field to the extra cover boundary on the Pavilion side. When Coles replaced Lamb for the next over at the Cromwell Road End he was unceremoniously deposited beyond the long on boundary and into the folding chairs next to the players dressing rooms. It was classic Pretorius, but apart from using up those four overs and giving Somerset supporters a lift, it had not changed the state of the match.

And then, with 50 overs remaining, the new ball, but Somerset remained defiant in the face of the seeming inevitability of their circumstances. Gregory cut the first ball with the new ball, from Hudson-Prentice, dismissively past the four slips for four. Then Pretorius took on Seales. First an open-faced steer through backward point for the four which brought up his fifty from 59 balls. The next ball was driven through extra cover for two. As Seales prepared to deliver the third ball a pin might have been heard drop anywhere in the ground. With Hunt sidelined, Seales stood out above the rest of the attack. He looked every inch the Test bowler he was. For the second time in the over, Pretorius calmly opened the face and steered the ball past the slips for four. But every Pretorius innings has its term, and two balls later, Seales, his run to the wicket rhythmic and smooth, delivered the perfect yorker. Pretorius reached down, but by the time his bat touched ground his off stump had left its moorings. Seales completed his follow through just as he would have done had Pretorius prodded the ball back down the pitch. The upended stump simply the product of another ball from the locker the impression given. Somerset 287 for 8. Pretorius 59. Two wickets and 48 overs and one ball remaining.

Josh Davey arrived, leaned into the next ball from Seales, clipped it just behind square and into one of the Pavilion boundary boards for six. Just another shot from the locker by all appearances. But the reality was unchanged. The runs made no difference. Somerset needed to bat another 48 overs with two wickets standing. Even Worcestershire hadn’t done that, and I doubt anyone at Hove was expecting Somerset to do it either. Gregory and Davey pushed the ball around, a pair of twos from Davey came in one over and a drive through midwicket from Gregory off Seales crashed into the Pavilion boards to take Somerset past 300. Then, Gregory reached a determined fifty from 116 balls with a single through the covers off Clark. For Somerset supporters though, it was like waiting for a skater to go through the ice. The moment came when Davey attempted to pull Clark from a foot outside off stump. The ball looped straight of mid-on. “Catch Hughsie,” someone shouted, but ‘Hughsie’ was already in pursuit and Davey walked off for ten from 14 balls. Somerset 304 for 9 with 43 overs remaining.

With one wicket standing, what had seemed inevitable for much of the day, except perhaps briefly during the Abell-Gregory partnership, now seemed imminent. Whether it did to Gregory and last man, Jack Leach, is impossible to say from beyond the boundary. Leach, not unknown for being inscrutable was now inscrutability personified. He played his second ball to cover and completed a single. That left him facing an over from Seales. He took another single off the last ball. The penultimate ball of the next over, from Clark, was driven off the back foot through the covers for two as calmly as if Leach were having a net. “Leachy!” came the acknowledgement from one of the Somerset enclaves. Then Leach opened the face and took another single to applause from the enclaves. Cheers accompanied two boundaries from the next over, from Seales, one driven through the covers, the other a guide to fine leg. Leach had faced 20 consecutive balls and scored 13 runs. Somerset were 317 for 9. Leach looked to be in no difficulty. As he played, he gave the impression that he could bat all day, but the reality was that the end was 40 overs or one error away.

The error looked as if it had come when Hudson-Prentice replaced Seales. Leach edged him into the slips, but the ball went to ground. “That carried,” was the certainty expressed from the crowd, but by the time the ball had been retrieved Leach and Gregory had completed a single. A curious aspect of the final wicket partnership was that, at least to the watcher, Gregory appeared to make no effort to protect Leach. By the time that catch went down, Leach had faced 30 of 42 balls since he came to the wicket. A back foot cover drive for four from Leach off Hudson-Prentice apart, the batters now focused on defence. But now, the ball, in its 14th over, began to go past the edge. As the last wicket partnership stretched into its 12th, a young Sussex supporter explained to another, attending her first cricket match, “We are going to win. It’s just a matter of when.” It was a statement few lifelong supporters would dared have made, but the game had had that feel about it for most of the day, and this time the prophecy held. An over later, Gregory played defensively to Hudson-Prentice and edged to Coles in the slips. Somerset 334 all out. Gregory 56 in three hours and 19 minutes. Leach 24 in 49 minutes. The waiting was over. Sussex the winners by those 260 runs.

Result. Sussex 294 (D.P. Hughes 49, T.G.R. Clark 49, J.A. Simpson 47, L. Gregory 4-90) and 501 for 7 dec (T.J. Haines 141, J.A. Simpson 110*, D.P. Hughes 91, M.J. Leach 4-167). Somerset 201 (J.E.K. Rew 80*, S.F. Hunt 5-48, F.J. Hudson-Prentice 4-31) and 334 (T.B. Abell 96, M. Pretorius 59, L. Gregory 56, S.F. Hunt 4-28, J.N.T. Seales 3-107). Sussex won by 260 runs. Sussex 20 points. Somerset 3 points.