Sussex were sunk by Surrey's two unsung heroes at rain-hit Hove yesterday.

The visitors' star-studded side included seven players with Test match experience for England, one-day international Alistair Brown plus A team tourist Ian Ward.

Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe and co did not have to contribute much to an easy 35-run victory under the Duckworth/Lewis method.

Instead, gold award winner Ian Bishop and Jason Ratcliffe did most of the damage.

Bishop is a youngster from Somerset, not to be confused with the former West Indian bowler of the same name. His tight spell included the key wicket of captain Chris Adams for a duck and Dutchman Bas Zuiderent.

Medium-pacer Ratcliffe then raced through Sussex's lower middle order. The former Warwickshire man removed Robin Martin-Jenkins, Umer Rashid and stand-in keeper Nick Wilton in the space of three overs for one-day best figures of 3-15.

Sussex started steadily after Adam Hollioake inserted them on a slow, difficult pitch. Richard Montgomerie (28) and newcomer Will House compiled an opening partnership of 30, the best of the innings.

Good bowling and fielding, indifferent shots and errors of judgement then condemned Sussex to their lowest Benson & Hedges total since 1978.

House and Zuiderent were both bowled by decent deliveries, while fine catches by Brown and Stewart accounted for Umer Rashid and Jason Lewry respectively.

Adams and Martin-Jenkins played poor strokes to short balls which stopped on them, top scorer Montgomerie padded up and Wilton also shouldered arms.

James Kirtley added 25 for the last wicket with Mark Robinson before unwisely calling his partner for a second run.

Alex Tudor trapped Tony Cottey for nought, as well as Montgomerie, and Martin Bicknell picked up the wickets of House and Lewry to complete a formidable performance.

Lewry knocked back Brown's off stump to give Sussex a semblance of hope and Kirtley was unfortunate not to dismiss Stewart before the rain came, Montgomerie just failing to cling onto a low chance at first slip.

Champions Surrey, missing Saqlain Mushtaq because of international commitments, should put last season's one-day misery behind them with the wealth of talent at their disposal.

Sussex will be pleased to have Michael Bevan back against Middlesex at Lord's tomorrow. It's a pity they could not have made a better fist of things in a match dedicated to the memory of former head groundsman Peter Eaton.