Sussex are to step up their hunt for a genuine all-rounder at the end of the season to try and solve their chronic lack of lower order runs.

The county are on the back foot in the current Championship match with Warwickshire after a first innings batting collapse which saw them lose their last six wickets for 23 runs against the second division leaders.

In 36 completed Champion-ship innings since the start of last season Sussex's last five wickets have put on an average of 74 runs between them.

Skipper Chris Adams said: "At the end of the season we will have to sit down and try to find the genuine all-rounder we need - the link between our batting and bowling - because everyone can see what a difference it could make to our side.

"I'm not talking about someone with potential who only comes up with the goods now and again. Paul Nixon would have been ideal and I'd like to think he might be regretting going to Kent because he could have been batting a lot higher with us and pushed for an England place with us.

"The statistics don't lie. We have got one of the best seam attacks in the country but we have struggled to get consistent runs out of them.

"The lack of lower order runs has been a problem for us since I came to Sussex, both in the bowlers and the wicketkeeper and everyone knows it has to improve."