Kirtley inspires Sussex

The Sussex quick bowler took his tally of Championship wickets to 39 yesterday, returning 5-50 as bottom of the table Middlesex were dismissed for 227 on the first day at Southgate.

Kirtley has taken 23 of those wickets in the last four games with five-fors in each of the last three.

Suddenly he has rediscovered the rhythm and control which earned him 100 victims last season and belated international recognition and his side are all the better for it.

A second England A tour is the least he can expect if he maintains his current strike rate in the five games.

And, just as importantly, it should ensure Sussex are playing first division cricket next season.

After three successive draws the county desperately need to beat Middlesex and they are in the box seat after a day cut short by seven overs because of showers.

By the close they had reached 84-2 from 37 overs in reply.

As a unit, they have certainly bowled better this season and the run rate never dipped much below four an over on a pitch where the ball came readily onto the bat and sped across a fast outfield.

But too many Middlesex batsmen were compliant in their own dismissals through a mixture of poor shot selection and reckless mis-judgement and if it hadn't been for the enigmatic Mark Ramprakash their plight would have been far worse.

Ramprakash made a chanceless 110 not out, his fourth century against Sussex, and as he stroked a succession of sweetly-timed drives off the front foot it was hard to believe this was the same batsman paralysed by fear in the Test arena.

He came in after Kirtley had taken two wickets in successive overs, tempting Mike Roseberry to swish leaden-footed outside off stump before removing key man Justin Langer lbw with a ball which came back in sharply.

Roseberry's dismissal set the tone for a dismal Middlesex batting display.

Ramprakash and the elegant Andy Strauss threatened to repair the early damage in a stand of 48 for the third wicket but you always felt another wicket wasn't far away once Strauss had been strangled down the leg side by Robin Martin-Jenkins.

The all-rounder, despite feeling some soreness from the shin injury which sidelined him last week, squared up Owais Shah and ripped out his off stump in his next over to leave Middlesex tottering again at 78-4.

But Sussex never looked like tying Ramprakash down.

Twice he struck three boundaries in an over off Kirtley and Martin-Jenkins whom he later pulled from outside off stump over mid-wicket into the adjacent tennis courts for an effortless six.

The 49th hundred of his career and second of the season at the Walker Ground came off 138 balls in just under three hours with 18 boundaries, most of them stroked effortlessly between backward point and mid off.

Unfortunately, none of his partners were able to take the lead from the masterclass at the other end.

David Nash tamely steered the ball to slip to give Chris Adams his first Championship wicket of the season before lunch while Keith Dutch and Angus Fraser both perished trying to withdraw the bat.

Kirtley took three of the last four wickets to wrap-up his five-for while Jason Lewry uprooted Richard Johnson's leg stump with a booming inswinger although the left-armer, troubled by stomach cramps, was subdued all day.

Sussex's reply began cautiously and Richard Montgomerie was dropped in the gully off Cook in the 16th over.

Six overs later Toby Peirce wasted a solid start when he flicked Cook straight to backward square after making 22.

Montgomerie became the first victim of spin when he edged Phil Tufnell to slip for 30 and he's unlikely to be the last.

The pitch is expected to provide increasing assistance for the twirlers, hence Sussex's decision to call-up Justin Bates for his second game of the season.

But it should be at it's flattest today which could be bad news for Middlesex with Michael Bevan, his eye on 1,000 runs and a fourth successive century, in situ.