Home v Worcestershire 19 - 22 April

Joe - I gave those four credit but I really did expect more than 49 runs from the other seven it isn't village cricket after all and especially after this:

www.theargus.co.uk/sport/12898162.Sussex_ordered_to_be_more_ruthless/

If that is being more ruthless then the other teams have absolutely nothing to fear from Sussex! We were poor in the final two sessions with both bat and ball.

Flashblade has expertly summed up my feelings.

At the end of day 1, we have a lead of 300 and the opposition have 10 wickets in hand. If we were all out from the last ball of the day for exactly 300 (same scenario) would that be satisfactory - no.

On that basis - despite Machan's knock - you would probably have to say it's been a disappointing day, but there's still plenty of time left in the game to up the ante and push for the win. I like our bowling attack so I don't think it's time to man the lifeboats just yet.

Well there seem to be two views of the day: either on a pitch of uneven bounce Machan somehow transcended them to produce his best ever performance, worth as much as the next highest scorers, Joyce, Shahzad and Wright, put together, or against nondescript Second Division bowling Machan came supremely good, Wright and Joyce both partially achieved what they are capable of, and Shahzad gave a further example of his fine cricketing brain and abilities, whilst all around them fled, or fell over.

Maybe the truth is not so much in the middle as woven into these overlapping threads? Certainly Joyce was outscored massively by Machan in the morning, but he looked quite untroubled and towards the end of his innings started to play some very expansive shots, the last of which cost him his wicket. At lunchtime there looked to be quite a vivid green tinge to the wicket, surprisingly so for such a dry spring. During the afternoon Cachopa, Brown and Wright all came in, looked good and got out, with only Wright doing justice to form and conditions. The Worcester bowling shuffled and reshuffled, with Andrew's initial full length and hostility fading, Morris looking game but underpaced, Shantry contorting himself amusingly , particularly to Machan, and Senanayake only taking his hands out of his pockets when he was bowling. That last-named made Wright's dismissal particularly woeful, catching him in the deep off the Gidman brother who had given up on bowling. Finally Shahzad played a mature, responsible and very skilful innings, shepherding the tail, ignoring Zaidi's bizarre dismissal, and picking off the plentiful ones and twos allowed by the very liberal field placings.

I also left at the close of the Sussex innings and can't comment on how Sussex used the pitch or how the Worcester openers played. Looked at purely in terms of the figures achieved, there is no consistency in a first session of 153-1, a second session of 147-5, and a 1/2 session of 45-4, followed by another of 45-0. And whatever else, Machan was superb and took his chance magnificently well. He showed that his future lies in the top part of the order, not hidden away at 5 or 6. Something will have to be done to accomomdate his kind of talent.

How many there today? I ask because according to cricinfo there were more than 3,000 at Cardiff, where Glamorgan showed some bold ambition by offering free admission for day one of their home programme.

Or perhaps they just didn't have the nerve to charge, given that the local residents are paying for the club's debts out of their council tax!

If there were 2,000 at Hove today that's pretty good; the likes of Leics/Derbys/Northants/Kent barely average that for their Friday night T20 booze blasts.

Chelmsford pitch very green; it takes  some doing to produce a wicket like that when it hasn't rained for three weeks. Serves Essex right that it has backfired on them. Matt Coles was full of venom and it was good to see Kent possessing a cutting edge to their attack again; you can get away with the 70-75 mph dibbly-dobblers like Claydon and Stevens if you've got someone bowling 85+ mph at the other end.

Not sure why having deliberately manufactured such a green, seaming pitch Essex then bothered to select Panesar. He didn't bowl in the Kent first innings and will be lucky if he gets to turn his arm in the match. They must have picked him for his batting and fielding!

Yes, that pretty much sums up the day as I saw it. We need to bounce back this morning.