EDGBASTON (third day of four): Sussex, with one first-innings wicket in hand, are 136 runs ahead of Warwickshire
FOR the second time in a week Warwickshire will spend the final day of a championship match bidding simply to avoid defeat. Titles are not supposed to be won like this, yet the absence of a cutting edge to the bowling attack means they are more likely to stumble across the finishing line than break the tape in a blaze of glory.
Nothing exposed their weakness more clearly than the ease with which James Kirtley and Mohammad Akram, the last-wicket pair, extended the Sussex lead beyond 100 in the final hour as Nick Knight, shuffling a tired attack, turned in desperation to the occasional spin of Jim Troughton and Mark Wagh to try to break the stand.
Having conceded 592 for eight against Gloucestershire, when they trailed by 242 after the first innings, Warwickshire could do little as Sussex reached 482 for nine and the visiting side may come to rue the 52 overs lost to foul weather in the first two days. Even as it is, Warwickshire face a difficult test against Mushtaq Ahmed on a pitch showing signs of uneven bounce. In general, they bowled more tidily yesterday than they had on Wednesday, especially in the morning session when Sussex became bogged down.
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However, Matt Prior hit 14 fours in his innings of 95 from 118 balls, threatening to compile a century between lunch and tea, and some of the fielding became quite shabby as Sussex amassed 357 runs in the day at all but four an over.
Prior survived a relatively straightforward chance on 21 when he was dropped at slip by Jonathan Trott and he proceeded to add 103 for the fifth wicket with Murray Goodwin, whose judicious 75 gave the innings a foundation. Heath Streak did not appear to be fully fit while Dewald Pretorius, the second overseas player, posed little threat.
When Warwickshire last won the title, in 1995, Allan Donald, their leading wicket-taker, claimed 88 victims. A year before, Tim Munton headed the way on 81. With a maximum of five innings to go this season, the chart is headed by Dougie Brown with only 28 to his credit so far. The attack does not have a kingpin.
For all that, however, they have won as many matches as any of their rivals and are the only county still unbeaten in either division. If Sussex end that run today it will come on the back of a democratic batting display that saw all bar Chris Adams and Mark Davis contribute.
Richard Montgomerie succumbed early when he left a ball from Streak which came back, and Tony Cottey followed after a dreadful misunderstanding with Goodwin, whose half-century arrived from 130 balls. Prior, reaching the same landmark from 69, showed greater inclination to drive and also cut powerfully.
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It said much that Pretorius was the fifth bowler introduced by Knight, who showed more faith in the ability of Ian Bell to keep a tight length, and the potential of Naqaash Tahir. Streak eventually won a leg-before appeal against Goodwin with the second new ball and Bell struck immediately on his return, removing Prior’s off stump.
Robin Martin-Jenkins almost went first ball, surprised by a Streak bouncer, and had started to play nicely before tickling the last ball before tea down the leg side. Better balls from Tahir had gone unrewarded but, from then on, Warwickshire suffered mounting frustration against Mushtaq, Kirtley and Akram.