Sussex are champions

Sussex captain Chris Adams celebrates

Sussex are the Frizzell County Champions of 2003. They began the second day of their final match against Leicestershire needing to get to 300 to secure their sixth bonus point and so put themselves beyond the reach of Lancashire. It was in the fourth over after lunch that Phillip DeFreitas bowled down the hill from the Cromwell Road end. Murray Goodwin swivelled to pull a short ball to the mid-wicket boundary and the usually sombre, staid Hove crowd erupted into a prolonged celebration.

Champagne corks popped, the public address system belted out "Sussex by the Sea" and it was total mayhem. The rest of the Sussex side filed out onto the pitch to join their captain, Chris Adams, and Goodwin in the middle and after a celebratory huddle, they went on a circuit of the outfield to acknowledge the cheers of a crowd numbering some three thousand.

It was a good ten minutes before the field could be cleared and the game resumed but, after 164 years of trying, the Sussex faithful could be excused such a prolonged show of exuberance.

When the dust settled, Sussex were the champions ahead of Lancashire with the 2002 champions, Surrey, in third place. At the other end of the table, Essex, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire were relegated.

In Division Two, Worcestershire took the title narrowly from Northamptonshire with Gloucestershire getting up to take third place and so secure promotion to Division One.