Jason Lewry produced a champion's bowling performance as Sussex celebrated their first title by claiming their tenth win of the season.

The left-armer swung the ball lavishly after tea to take five wickets for just six runs in 25 balls as already relegated Leicestershire, who looked like making Sussex bat again at tea, collapsed from 353-6 to 380 all out to lose by an innings and 55 runs.

Lewry, who will surely be awarded a new contract next week, finished with a career-best 8-106 as Sussex claimed their third innings win of the season and fourth in the last five games.

Their final total of 257 points is a record since the Championship was split into two divisions in 1999.

The players had celebrated the first Championship in the county's 164-year history long into Friday morning and, if some of the squad were not nursing king-sized hangovers, their cricket for the first half of the day suggested otherwise.

Then Lewry took matters into his own hand. He clearly decided he wanted an extra day off to recover from the next round of celebrations.

In the second over after the resumption, Darren Maddy was pinned by a full-length inswinger and Paul Nixon obligingly swatted the next ball to the diving Murray Goodwin at square leg.

England under-19 batsman Luke Wright avoided the hat-trick but Lewry was on a roll and in a mood to get another party underway as soon as possible.

John Sadler lost his off stump after equalling the career-best 145 he made last month when Leicestershire batted for two days to deny Surrey at Grace Road.

Another inswinger accounted for Phil DeFreitas two balls later and Lewry finished things off in his next over when Vasbert Drakes was caught behind off a bottom edge.

It was the sort of cameo the players have produced all season and one of the main reasons why they are worthy champions.

Lewry had taken two wickets in successive overs at the start of the day, nightwatchman George Walker prodding a lifter to short leg and the dangerous Brad Hodge nibbling at a ball which curved away from him.

Leicestershire were 69-4 and would surely have collapsed meekly for the second time in the match had Mushtaq Ahmed not been nursing the groin injury which he has played through for the best part of the last month.

With Robin Martin-Jenkins briefly off the field for running repairs to his bowling boots the Sussex attack suddenly looked a bit toothless.

Tony Cottey, Murray Goodwin and even Adams himself, for the first time since the opening match of last season, all turned their arm over at some stage as left-hander Sadler joined David Masters in a stand of 208 in 47 overs for the fifth wicket.

Masters looked anything but a nightwatchman as he drove fluently off the front foot to collect the majority of his 18 fours in a maiden hundred.

The second 50 was made off just 49 balls with 40 of those runs coming in boundaries and he had made 119 off 181 balls when he miscued a drive in the first over of a new spell from the ever-willing Billy Taylor.

Maddy, who spent Thursday in bed ill, helped Sadler put on 76 for the sixth wicket either side of tea and saw the former Yorkshire left-hander to his second hundred in four matches.

Sadler's 145 was made off 202 balls with 23 fours and two sixes and if some of the bowling he faced could best be described as friendly there was no doubting the quality of his strokeplay against off-spinner Mark Davis or when the seamers dropped short.

But he had no answer when Lewry started swinging the ball like a boomerang and just before 5pm Sussex's glorious Championship campaign reached a suitably triumphant conclusion.

A few moments later Lewry and the rest of the squad were being feted by a 1,500 crowd in the evening sunshine as the trophy and winners' cheque for £105,000 was presented by sponsors Frizzell and John Carr representing the ECB. The supporters even forgave Carr when he mistakenly congratulated Surrey for winning the title.

If they were reluctant to disperse once the players had disappeared to start another celebration you could hardly blame them.

At least they have some fantastic memories to sustain them during the long winter months.