Sussex promoted to Division One after beating Gloucestershire
Henry Crocombe finished with figures of 4-22 from 37 deliveries as Sussex ran through the Gloucestershire second innings
- Published
Vitality County Championship Division Two, Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (day three)
Gloucestershire 109 & 195: Dent 61; Crocombe 4-22
Sussex 311: Carson 71, Simpson 61; Gohar 6-76
Sussex (21 pts) beat Gloucestershire (3 pts) by an innings and seven runs
Sussex clinched promotion from Division Two of the County Championship with a game to spare after swiftly wrapping up an innings victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol.
Resuming on 140-3 in their second innings, trailing by 62 runs, Gloucestershire were skittled for 195 as Sussex needed less than a session of the third day to finish off their hosts.
Left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat claimed 3-39 and match figures of 7-71, while Henry Crocombe took 4-22 as Sussex sealed victory by an innings and seven runs.
That saw Sussex take 21 points – to Gloucestershire’s three – from an eighth Championship win of a memorable campaign and build an unassailable advantage over Middlesex.
When Crocombe claimed the final wicket at 12.08 BST it provoked scenes of celebration, the seamer raising both arms in the air before joining in a group hug on the square involving the whole team.
The Division Two title awaits for the runaway leaders, who have been far and away the best and most consistent side in the division.
Sussex were on their game from the opening over on Thursday, which saw Chris Dent bowled by Unadkat’s fifth delivery without adding to his overnight score of 61.
James Bracey could make only two before a thick edge off Ollie Robinson saw him snapped up by Tom Haines in the gully and it was 153-6 when Graeme van Buuren nicked Unadkat to wicketkeeper John Simpson.
Nightwatch Ed Middleton battled away for 64 balls and shared a seventh-wicket stand of 36 with Tom Price before edging another catch to Simpson off Crocombe to make it 189-7.
In his next over Crocombe bowled Zafar Gohar with a yorker and removed Zaman Akhter’s off stump with the following delivery.
The hat-trick ball was too wide and left alone by Dom Goodman but Gloucestershire’s last man did not last much longer, trapped lbw by Crocombe for two, as Sussex celebrated victory and promotion to the top division for the first time in 10 years.
Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.
Farbrace 'the toast of Sussex cricket'
Analysis by BBC Radio Sussex cricket commentator Adrian Harms:
As a tame draw against Glamorgan ended a miserable 2022 Championship season, there was a palpable sense of gloom enveloping Hove.
Just one win and nine defeats had seen Sussex finish second bottom of the Championship, which, added to the one win in the previous season, meant Sussex had won just two matches from 28.
Something had to change. Yes, there was a promising crop of young players but getting beaten week after week wasn’t helping their confidence.
The net was spread far and wide that winter to find a head coach but, despite some high profile applicants and interviews, the role remained unfilled.
However little did Sussex know that the answer to their problems was right under their nose in neighbouring Kent.
Paul Farbrace had recently left his role at Warwickshire, and the Sussex chair Jon Filby, who had only himself been recently appointed to the role, seized the opportunity.
Farbrace didn’t take long to get to grips with the situation. He knew experience was desperately needed and that some of the squad needed to be moved on.
Difficult, sometimes unpopular, decisions were made but Farbrace stuck to his guns and the inspired signing of John Simpson from Middlesex this season was an indication Farbrace meant business.
Two years on, Sussex have won 11 of 27 matches under Farbrace, losing on just three occasions.
The man from over the border has become the toast of Sussex cricket.