Yardy's year

Honours flowed through every tributary of Sussex cricket this year. Before taking the totesport second division crown and third place in the Championship the 2nd XI won their one-day cup; the women were county champions and under-17 national champions; the boys' under-14s ruled at the Taunton inter-county Festival; Brighton College's under-15 girls were national indoor winners; Downview School in Bognor Regis won the national Kwik cricket competition; and Horsham CC lifted the Cockspur Cup.

A second pennant in three years for the side at the apex of the pyramid would have been nice, and Chris Adams's men will rue two uncharacteristically bad days at the office: a submissive last-day batting display at Edgbaston and an inability to clean up against Gloucestershire. They will also lament that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was available only half the season.

Michael Yardy came of age, overcame a post-cap lapse and won a desk at the national academy. "I don't think we're overloaded with talent [in spin] at first-class level," said Moores, instructively, some weeks ago, before his move from Hove to Loughborough. "We tend to produce control spinners here. It's easier for Asians to bowl wrist and finger spin, perhaps because of their bodies. Yardy knows his spin helps balance the team."

Player of the Year Mushtaq Ahmed first to top the wicket-taking lists three summers running since Derek Shackleton in 1964.
High Promotion in totesport League.
Low Renewed questions about James Kirtley's action.