Durham's demolition of Sussex opens gap at the top of Division One

After last week’s emphatic victory over erstwhile title favourites Yorkshire at Scarborough, Durham completed their demolition of Sussex – their next closest pursuers – before tea on the third day to move to the top of the Division One table with a lead of 14½ points.

Paul Collingwood, the Durham captain, wary of making the mistake he committed when Yorkshire won here in April, waited until 40 minutes into the morning session before declaring, anxious that an overnight lead of 345 would not be enough, even though Sussex, shorn of the top three in their batting averages, had batted feebly first time around.

He pulled out only when Durham’s lead had topped 400, giving Sussex 181 overs in which to undertake their unlikely pursuit.

He need not have worried. Sussex proved no more resilient than they had in the first innings and were bowled out for 116 in just 39.3 overs.

Not since 1926, when they twice made a combined total of 222 over two innings, have a Sussex side scored so few runs in a single first-class match.

Sussex lost a wicket to the third ball when Graham Onions had Luke Wells caught at second slip.

They resisted for the next hour as Chris Nash and Michael Yardy brought their experience to bear but Yardy fell just before lunch to some clever bowling by Mitch Claydon, impressively committed to the Durham cause on temporary recall from Kent, and Sussex’s will seemed to drain away rapidly with his demise.

Nash departed soon after lunch, like Yardy leg before to Claydon, and the last seven wickets fell for a dismal 45 runs. Claydon finished with six wickets in the match, Onions seven, taking his tally for the season in the championship to 51.

Chris Rushworth deserved better than his solitary success for bowling superbly throughout the match but the biggest impression was left by Usman Arshad, a 20-year-old seamer from Bradford in only his second match, who took three wickets in each innings as well as looking more than competent with the bat.

Twice in the match he took two wickets in the same over, on Thursday dismissing Harry Finch and Will Beer with consecutive balls.

“We had to look over our shoulder in terms of a bad weather forecast for Friday and get the declaration right after what happened earlier in the season,” Collingwood said.

“I felt the wicket was flattening out and had to get a few more runs just in case the weather did not common/come on Friday.

“In the end it could not have gone much better and there were some outstanding performances.

“For Usman Arshad to come into the side and show the maturity and the skill level he has was fantastic, and for Mitch Claydon to make the 600-mile round trip from Kent and put his heart and soul into it as he did shows what a spirit there is in this group of players.”

The title race has three games to run, two in the case of Sussex, for whom the return of Matt Prior has come too late.

Durham may yet hand back the initiative to Yorkshire, although under Collingwood’s impressive leadership – he has won 12 of his 19 championship matches since succeeding Phil Mustard – they look to have momentum that will be hard to resist.

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Sussex seamers run through Durham

LV CC Division One, Emirates Durham ICG

Close, day one: Durham 245 v Sussex 60-3

Title-chasing Durham endured a tough opening day as they were bowled out for 245 by Sussex at Chester-le-Street.

James Anyon (4-87) and Steve Magoffin (3-57) were among the wickets again, but the key spell was bowled after lunch by Lewis Hatchett (3-56).

The left-armer sent back opener Mark Stoneman for 96 and made short work of Paul Collingwood and Phil Mustard.

Durham only managed one batting point, but Graham Onions picked up two wickets in reply as Sussex closed on 60-3.

With leaders Yorkshire not playing this week, Durham only need six points to move to the top of the table. And, with Onions back in the side after three weeks on the sidelines with a broken finger, they are looking for an eighth victory of the campaign.

Sussex were without Ed Joyce, Luke Wright and Chris Jordan because of international commitments, but they had plenty of incentive to perform, as they began only 23.5 points behind the home side in third.

Keaton Jennings and Scott Borthwick departed cheaply, but Stoneman looked set to make Sussex pay for a let-off on 44, when he was dropped at slip by teenage debutant Harry Finch.

From 154-3, however, they slumped to 170-6 as Hatchett produced an inspired burst. And, although Will Smith (32), Michael Richardson (31) and Usman Arshad (30) made useful contributions, Durham were all out in the 72nd over.

Onions conceded early boundaries as he tried to find his line, but hit back by removing Chris Nash for 19 and Michael Yardy for a third-ball duck.

Mitchell Claydon, who has announced that he will leave the county at the end of the summer , marked his return from a loan spell with Kent by bowling Joe Gatting for 16.

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Durham go top with win over Sussex

LV CC Division One, Emirates Durham ICG

Durham 245 & 268-8 dec beat Sussex 112 & 116 by 285 runs

Durham moved to the top of the County Championship with a resounding 285-run win over Sussex at Chester-le-Street.

Phil Mustard struck 73 to help take Durham's lead beyond 400, prompting captain Paul Collingwood to declare on 245-8 just 40 minutes into day three.

It left an under-strength Sussex side to face a remote target of 403.

Chris Nash scored 38 as they reached 52-1, but Mitch Claydon, Graham Onions and Usman Arshad took three wickets each as Sussex totalled 116.

The win put Durham 14.5 points clear of second-placed Yorkshire at the top of Division One, with both sides having three matches still to play.

Durham had looked strong favourites at the start of the day, resuming on 212-6 with a lead of 345, but with heavy rain forecast throughout Friday a quick declaration was likely to be their best chance of victory.

Mustard, Arshad (34) and Claydon (12) all contributed as Durham's lead stretched past 400 and, having bowled Sussex out for only 112 in the first innings, Collingwood opted to put the visitors in to bat again.

Scott Borthwick caught Luke Wells off the bowling of Onions (3-38) just three balls into the innings, before Nash and Michael Yardy (25) shared 48 to frustrate the hosts.

But Claydon (3-31) trapped both Nash and Yardy in front and then had Rory Hamilton-Brown caught behind to shift the momentum firmly back in Durham's favour.

Arshad (3-18) tore through the Sussex middle order and, although Steve Magoffin offered some resistance with 20 off 16 balls, Onions had Hatchett caught by Borthwick to secure Durham's third win in a row.

Durham captain Paul Collingwood:

"That was a fantastic victory, particularly in the manner we did it. We put Sussex under a lot of pressure, we ground them down with the bat and really wore them out in the end.

"It is difficult to say if it is now a two-horse race, I don't really look at league tables. We just want to keep going about our business like we have been.

"The closer you get to the prize the more emotion comes into it and once emotion gets involved with sport it can be dangerous, so I try to distance myself from it."

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Mark Stoneman and Graham Onions give Durham the edge over Sussex

One bonus point after deciding to bat first may look like a disappointing return for a side chasing the title but Durham’s record at Chester-le-Street is not littered with high scores.

Indeed, with one exception they have not managed more than two batting points from any of their seven home fixtures. Yet they have achieved a first-innings lead in every one thus far, while the telling statistic is that if they can beat Sussex this week, they will have won five of them.

They are handicapped somewhat in this match. Ben Stokes, who has been in outstanding form with the ball lately, is on England duty and among those who remain Durham are so short of fit bowlers – missing Mark Wood and James Harrison as well as Callum Thorp – they have had to recall Mitch Claydon from his loan to Kent in order to assemble a worthwhile seam attack.

On the other hand, they have Graham Onions back, following three weeks sidelined with a broken finger, and on the evidence of an evening session in which he claimed two wickets in four balls in his fifth over despite the feeling that he needed to find his rhythm, his return may be a decisive factor.

Sussex have built a platform of sorts at 60 for three, having been 28 for two in reply to Durham’s 245, but can look forward to a difficult first hour or so on Wednesday.

This is a Durham side in transition, tipped by some even to be relegated as they renew what had been an ageing squad. Yet under Paul Collingwood’s captaincy, they have been buoyed by a sequence of outstanding performances from players who have stepped out of the shadows.

Notable among them has been Mark Stoneman, an opening batsman of no little talent but a frustrating history of not quite fulfilling his promise. This season, finding himself in the senior role at the top of the order now that Michael Di Venuto has retired, he has blossomed.

Since his century against Yorkshire on this ground in April, the 26-year-old has scored a half-century or more in half of his 18 innings, and was within one more boundary of a fourth century in that sequence had he not been bowled off an inside edge by Lewis Hatchett on 96. He had been dropped in the slips by Harry Finch, on his Sussex debut, on 44, but there was much to admire in his elegant stroke making, which brought him 16 boundaries.

He was the first of three victims for Hatchett in 19 deliveries, a spell that accounted for Collingwood, leg before, and Phil Mustard, who could do little about a ball that squared him up and had him caught at second slip.

There were three wickets, too, for Steve Magoffin, who swung the ball even as it aged. Had his regular new ball partner, Chris Jordan, been available, Durham might have found the going tougher still.

In the event, Stoneman’s runs, which give him a chance to pass 1,000 in first-class games for the first time, aided by handy support from Will Smith, Michael Richardson and an impressively composed Usman Arshad, gave Durham a total that may well give them the edge again.

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Ashes 2013: James Taylor called up to Sussex side as Australia pick rookie spinner Ashton Turner

Pietersen is undergoing treatment on a calf problem ahead of the third Ashes Test which starts at Old Trafford next Thursday, so there is a chance that his place in the batting line-up could become available.

Several names have been mentioned as possible replacements, including Ravi Bopara and Gary Ballance, but with Taylor trading Nottinghamshire for Sussex at England's request, the 23-year-old would seem to be next in line.

"We would like to thank Nottinghamshire CCC and Sussex CCC for their support and understanding in allowing Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor to play for Sussex against Australia in the three-day tour match beginning on Friday," said England coach Andy Flower in a statement.

"This will provide James with a valuable opportunity to play in a longer format of the game while we consider our options ahead of the third Investec Ashes Test next week. Kevin Pietersen is continuing his recovery from a calf strain and a decision about his availability for the Test will made nearer the time."

The three-day game starts at Hove on Friday, with Australia looking to build up some confidence after two demoralising losses in the first and second Tests.

Taylor said: "I'm hopeful that KP will be fit to play and, as it stands, I'm preparing to play in the three-day game for Sussex and nothing more.

"I'm disappointed to have to miss two big Notts matches but the Sussex fixture will give me an opportunity to get some red ball practice and then I'll wait and see.

"I'm not back in the Test side yet but I'm pleased to be a step closer to it and I've always dealt with situations like this by concentrating on the game in hand and refusing to look too far ahead."

Taylor is no stranger to the Test environment having made two appearances last summer including a 147-run stand with Pietersen against South Africa at Headingley.

Meanwhile, Australia have called up rookie off-spinner Ashton Turner for the match after deciding to rest several senior players.

Turner, who will make his first-class debut in the three-day match at Hove, has been playing for Chichester Priory Park as part of a development programme run by Cricket Australia and Hampshire.

The 20-year-old has taken 18 wickets at an average of 40.78 for the Sussex Premier League club this season and will be one of three spinners in the Australia side, along with Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon.

Australia captain Michael Clarke will miss the match amid reports that his long-standing back injury flared up after the second Test defeat to England at Lord's. Vice-captain Brad Haddin, openers Shane Watson and Chris Rogers plus pace bowlers Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris have all been rested, with Ed Cowan to captain the Australia XI.

Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird and James Faulkner will be all be pressing for a place in the Australia side for the Old Trafford Test after James Pattinson was sidelined with a stress fracture in his lower back.

Turner was a member of the Australia Under-19 team that finished runners-up to India in last year's World Cup. He was one of six Australian Institute Of Sport scholars to be awarded a summer placement in England.

Agar was also on the scheme and he had been playing club cricket at Henley before he was called into the Ashes squad. Turner linked up with the Australia team for the first Ashes Test in Nottingham, when Agar scored 98 on debut.

Australia team: Cowan (capt), Hughes, Khawaja, Smith, Wade, Faulkner, Agar, Turner, Starc, Lyon, Bird.

(Edited by Ben Bloom)

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Middlesex end Sussex unbeaten run

County Championship Division One, Hove

Day four: Middlesex 496 & 44-0 beat Sussex 229 & 310 by 10 wickets

Middlesex ended Sussex's unbeaten record in Championship Division One by wrapping up an emphatic 10-wicket win on the final morning at Hove.

Luke Wright was last to go for a superb 161 as the home side were all out for 310 after resuming on 288-6.

Corey Collymore (3-52) and Tim Murtagh (3-57) shared the final four wickets as Middlesex were left only 43 to win.

Sam Robson (18) and Dawid Malan (19) finished the job in nine overs as Middlesex cruised home on 44-0.

The result left Sussex second in the Division One table, seven points behind Yorkshire and having played a game more, with Middlesex leapfrogging Warwickshire into fourth, 24 points adrift of the leaders.

At the start of play, Sussex needed Wright, already 151 not out, to extend his innings well beyond the opening session, but his hopes of doing so suffered an immediate blow when Chris Jordan was caught behind off the first ball of the day, bowled by Murtagh.

Steve Magoffin and James Anyon departed in similar fashion as wicketkeeper John Simpson completed five catches in the innings and with only Monty Panesar left for company, Wright eventually hoisted a catch to Neil Dexter off Collymore, bringing to an end his stint, which featured a six and 24 fours.

Completing victory proved a formality for the Middlesex openers, who collected five fours between them, before Malan picked up the winning single off the final ball of Michael Yardy's second over.

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Middlesex end Sussex unbeaten run

County Championship Division One, Hove

Day four: Middlesex 496 & 44-0 beat Sussex 229 & 310 by 10 wickets

Middlesex ended Sussex's unbeaten record in Championship Division One by wrapping up an emphatic 10-wicket win on the final morning at Hove.

Luke Wright was last to go for a superb 161 as the home side were all out for 310 after resuming on 288-6.

Corey Collymore (3-52) and Tim Murtagh (3-57) shared the final four wickets as Middlesex were left only 43 to win.

Sam Robson (18) and Dawid Malan (19) finished the job in nine overs as Middlesex cruised home on 44-0.

The result left Sussex second in the Division One table, seven points behind Yorkshire and having played a game more, with Middlesex leapfrogging Warwickshire into fourth, 24 points adrift of the leaders.

At the start of play, Sussex needed Wright, already 151 not out, to extend his innings well beyond the opening session, but his hopes of doing so suffered an immediate blow when Chris Jordan was caught behind off the first ball of the day, bowled by Murtagh.

Steve Magoffin and James Anyon departed in similar fashion as wicketkeeper John Simpson completed five catches in the innings and with only Monty Panesar left for company, Wright eventually hoisted a catch to Neil Dexter off Collymore, bringing to an end his stint, which featured a six and 24 fours.

Completing victory proved a formality for the Middlesex openers, who collected five fours between them, before Malan picked up the winning single off the final ball of Michael Yardy's second over.

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