After a very very long wait, Sussex are Open County Champions. The team consisted of Nigel Senior (capt), Jim Millward, Barry Holt, Mark James, Steve Mariner and making their Sussex debut, Richard Wooton and Chris Reeves (Chris wasn’t even born the last time Sussex brought home this title!).

The day started with a 3-4 loss to Oxfordshire, one team we have failed to beat for many years and who had won this title 7 times in the past 8 years. Then we sat out a series while Berkshire did us a favour beating Oxfordshire and leaving the door open. We then played Berkshire and notched up a cracking 5-2 win over a strong team. Things were looking good as Oxfordshire could only beat Kent 4-3. We had a chance if we could beat both Kent and Hampshire. We went into the match against Kent hoping for a 5-2 victory. Everyone did their bit and we won a whopping 7-0, virtually unheard of in this league. Now we knew what we needed to do, as Oxfordshire had finished their matches, we needed just 2 legs. We set about Hampshire showing no mercy and crashed home another unlikely 7-0 victory ensuring a historic Sussex victory. The last time Sussex won this title was in 1981, hard to believe.

Oxon

Sussex

M Turner*

4,820

4,310

J Millward

K Tunstall

10,140

3,350

C Reeves*

P Farrelly*

2,870

6,370

R Wooton

K Sheard

6,980

8,130

M James*

S Sheard*

10,490

3,750

B Holt

J Bamsey

4,040

7,450

S Mariner*

D Atkins*

9,370

3,370

N Senior

4

48,710

36,730

3

Sussex

Berks

J Millward*

8,100

2,990

D Williamson

C Reeves

1,980

13,070

P Yeo*

R Wooton*

930

1,780

T Walsh

M James

7,920

5,530

P Sainsbury*

B Holt*

8,900

2,700

B Trinder

S Mariner

11,530

780

K Lewindon*

N Senior*

8,560

1,550

B McCluskey

5

47,920

28,400

2

Kent

Sussex

M Callanan*

1,560

10,550

J Millward

A Farra

4,850

6,250

C Reeves*

D Phillips*

1,240

13,290

R Wooton

M Brewster

610

13,510

M James*

V Mitchell*

3,660

5,980

B Holt

Pete Sainsbury

5,470

7,790

S Mariner*

C Saville*

3,890

4,830

N Senior

0

21,280

62,200

7

Sussex

Hants

J Millward*

8,960

950

A Chaloner

C Reeves

7,070

6,130

B Radford*

R Wooton*

3,160

2,770

J Lockyer

M James

9,490

1,050

T Webster*

B Holt*

8,140

4,390

T Woolvin

S Mariner

8,930

830

C Newson*

N Senior*

8,430

1,590

D Claydon

7

54,180

17,710

0

pos

Division 1

P

W

L

Score

Pts

1

Sussex

4

3

1

201,030

22

2

Oxon

4

3

1

193,920

16

3

Berks

4

2

2

164,640

13

4

Kent

4

1

3

127,510

10

5

Hants

4

1

3

110,160

9

pos

Sussex Avers

P

W

L

Brks

Score

Ave

Sx Rpts

1

M James

4

4

0

2

39,050

9,763

7.9

2

S Mariner

4

4

0

2

35,700

8,925

6.7

3

J Millward

4

3

1

2

31,920

7,980

5.7

4

B Holt

4

3

1

2

26,770

6,693

4.5

5

N Senior

4

3

1

2

25,190

6,298

3.5

6

R Wooton

4

3

1

2

23,750

5,938

2.5

7

C Reeves

4

2

2

2

18,650

4,663

1.3

pos

Player

County

P

W

L

Brks

Score

Ave

1

M James

Sussex

4

4

0

2

39,050

9,763

2

S Mariner

Sussex

4

4

0

2

35,700

8,925

3

M Turner

Oxon

4

4

0

2

20,030

5,008

4

B McCluskey

Berks

4

3

1

2

39,900

9,975

5

T Woolvin

Hants

4

3

1

2

32,050

8,013

6

J Millward

Sussex

4

3

1

2

31,920

7,980

7

D Atkins

Oxon

4

3

1

2

28,490

7,123

8

A Farra

Kent A </