The players are resting tired bodies and minds. Supporters are wondering where they can get their cricket-fix over the next few months.

Another summer is over, but as the inquest begins at Hove this week the question has to be: Did Sussex's season ever really get going?

It was always going to suffer by comparison to 2003 when the Championship came to Hove for the first time, but the frustrating thing is that the county could easily have been celebrating back-to-back titles instead of scrambling for points to avoid relegation right up until the penultimate match.

It is still hard to believe that Sussex didn't secure their title until they won for the tenth time in the final game of last season. In contrast, Warwickshire clinched the pennant this year with just five wins and two rounds of matches remaining.

That statistic says more about a competition where teams were once again compelled to adopt safety-first tactics because of the fear of relegation rather than the relative strengths of the last two champions.

Sussex's challenge ended with their failure to beat Warwickshire at Edgbaston three weeks ago, but in truth they did well to get that close after a wretched first half of the season when they won just once and struggled to get any sort of momentum.

There were some mitigating factors, notably a lop-sided fixture list meant Sussex played three games before May and, predictably, one was badly rain-affected. They didn't play successive Championship matches again until August and then, for the last six weeks of the season, there was no break in the programme at all. If whoever planned that lot wanted to make Sussex's title defence as difficult as possible, they did a pretty decent job.

I suspect the season might have turned out a lot better if they had managed to polish off Surrey in the first game when the loss of a day to rain denied them certain victory.

Instead, Sussex were always playing catch-up and at the halfway mark - after a depressing three-day defeat by Gloucetsershire which was undoubtedly the season's low point - they looked prime candidates to do a Yorkshire' and follow the title with relegation.

The month of one-day cricket which followed was supposed to lift spirits, but Sussex were abysmal in the Twenty20 and won just once in three National League games in July.

Yet when they returned to Championship action it was just like 2003 all over again. Mushtaq Ahmed picked up seven wickets in an innings win over Kent and although they lost the return at Canterbury, back-to-back victories followed and all of a sudden long-time leaders Warwickshire were in Sussex's sights.

"If we'd won there, I think we would have won the title," said skipper Chris Adams. Instead a final position of fifth was about right.

Unlike last season, not enough players hit form at the same time and how many can truly say they improved on 2003? Not too many.

Only three players passed the benchmark of 1,000 runs and, laudable achievement though it was, Matt Prior's aggregate was inflated by a double hundred against the Loughborough students. Ian Ward can be satisfied with his first season although he tailed off towards the end and struggled more than anyone with the vagaries of the Hove pitches.

But both earned plus marks and, so among batsmen, did Mike Yardy whose maiden Championship hundred in the final match was reward for the strides forward he made.

No question who was the star of the season - again. Mushtaq Ahmed only took 30 wickets in the first half of the season, but he finished with 84 and was the country's leading wicket-taker for the second year running - something that has not happened for 25 years.

The feeling was that umpires were less inclined to uphold Mushy's frenzied appeals, but no bowler in the country hits batsmen's pads more often. The decision to offer the leg-spinner a year's extension to his contract, keeping him at Hove until 2006, represented sound thinking. If nothing else, it postpones the day when Sussex have to think about how they are possibly going to replace him.

There were other pluses. Luke Wright's emerged as a genuine all-rounder who might easily be the next Sussex player to play for his country if he is not beaten to the honour by Prior, whose wicketkeeping improved a lot.

Mohammad Akram bowled like the wind at times and the impression is that Sussex will see the best of him in 2005, now he has a full season of English conditions under his belt.

For others, though, the end of the season couldn't come quickly enough. Tim Ambrose had a wretched year, but he is too good a player not to bounce back. Once again, Sussex have done the right thing by extending his contract and giving him a lift when he needs it most.

Murray Goodwin had his worst season since joining the county but, like Ambrose, he will come good again, possibly in his old position at the top of the order, while the decision to drop Robin Martin-Jenkins in August was justified. At times he lacked confidence, especially with the bat.

James Kirtley's season did not start until May after he spent six weeks kicking his heels in the Caribbean, apparently forgotten by the England selectors. His form and confidence finally returned and it is inconceivable to think that such a wholehearted competitor will not take 70 wickets plus next year especially, as seems likely, his international career is over.

There was a long overdue improvement in Sussex's one-day form and if they had beaten Nottinghamshire under the lights instead of tieing the match they, rather than their opponents, would have been promoted to Division One.

Prior was a huge success in the opener's role, Mark Davis the most consistent bowler. But Sussex still haven't replaced Mark Robinson whose metronomic accuracy was the cornerstone of their one-day success of five years ago.

Wright may be the answer, but another bowler is the priority if Sussex do make a winter signing.

Chairman David Green assured supporters last week that funds to strengthen the squad were available, Director of cricket Peter Moores having proved to be as adept at juggling the finances as he is as coaching the team.

His enduring partnership with Chris Adams may be coming to an end. Adams will lead the side again next season, but my feeling is that it will be his last.

On occasions this season - at Old Trafford and Lord's and in the home games against Kent and Worcestershire - Sussex played like champions.

A bit more consistency next year and there is no reason why Adams cannot sign off with another title.