Sussex delighted the vast majority of a sell-out crowd at Hove as they reached Vitality Blast Finals Day.

But the pleasure and delight will have extended well beyond the gates of the 1st Central County Ground during their blasting of Lancashire.

Tymal Mills’ team are back on the big stage – heading to Edgbaston a week on Saturday after their eight-wicket demolition of the Lightning.

There was a vibrant feel around the 1st Central County Ground all the way through a thankfully mild and dry September evening.

Why the quarter-finals had to be so long after the group stage, why they had to be on the first week when children are back at school, why they had to clash with the Caribbean T20, are questions to be asked of those who run the game.

Why England players cannot appear in the showpiece occasion – the closest thing county cricket has to an old-fashioned FA Cup final given the demise of the one-day county competitions with their finals at Lord’s - is another.

But to see Sussex bouncing back was special to those who got tickets and many who follow the county game in general.

It could not have gone any better really for the hosts, from the moment their former favourite Phil Salt was bowled by Ollie Robinson with the first delivery of the match.

Salt’s departure from Hove was tough to take at the time and, along with those of Chris Jordan, Laurie Evans, David Wiese, Danny Briggs, Luke Wright (who retired) and one or two others, all for their own reasons, was seen as symptomatic of the demise of Sussex as a T20 force.

But Robinson has generally been superb for Sussex this season and finished with 2-27 as well as producing the dagger of a direct-hit run out to send back Lancs’ top-scorer Liam Livingstone, who scored 43 of their 114 all out.

Sussex were grateful for that moment of magic and most of us were grateful for Livingstone’s runs.

Without them, it would have been over all too early and this was an evening you did not want to end too soon.

You wanted to have time to enjoy it.

Be that the return of Jofra Archer, with his two wickets and safely held catch, the big role of Scotland seamer Brad Currie and the valuable contributions of home-developed spinners James Coles and Jack Carson.

Those of us who have watched Sussex for any appreciable time are aware they can lose games they have half-won.

It happened as recently as the home match with Essex this season.

But Harrison Ward’s initial salvo of 27 off 18, including six fours, made sure that would not happen and Philip Hughes (35 off 22) and Coles (27 not out off 26) had time to accelerate through the gears before showing off their shots.

Tymal Mills, whose captaincy has earned widespread praise, said: “We thought it would do a little bit. It was a wicket that hadn’t been used all year so we saved it for today and then we were brilliant all the way through.

“You talk about keeping the stumps in play all the way through.

“Credit to the boys. Credit to the coaching staff because we have been pretty poor in T20 for the last couple of seasons.

“We have made a big effort identifying where we want to be better.

“It has been a long journey. A lot of the boys have put in a lot of hard work and then implementing it throughout the Blast.

“I am very proud of where we have got to but we are not done yet. Hopefully two games to go.”

Maybe it is too much to suggest that Sussex and their vibrant, partisan but sporting crowd at Hove were also flying the flag for the county game and its non-Test or Hundred clubs.

Both Paul Farbrace and Mills have been keen to play that down when asked a question in that vein in recent days.

But that was how it was being seen by some on Wednesday night.

TV and radio presenter Mark Pougatch, who was among the crowd at the Sea End, tweeted: “Very good to see county cricket & the Vitality Blast thriving. Full house at Hove. A thumping win for Sussex CCC. Please don’t forget about them in the unseemly rush for franchise cash.”

Cricket correspondent Paul Newman asked his followers on X: “Who was that ECB guy who wanted more tribalism among fans in The Hundred? There’s plenty of it on display (in a good way) at Hove tonight. Another reminder of what a good competition the Vitality Blast is - even if this quarter-final is very one-sided so far!”

To which former Sussex favourite Chris Nash, who watched his county from just beyond the boundary on Wednesday, replied: “Tribalism comes from history and an attachment to a team. The Premier League built on that, I’m not convinced it can be faked and bought through gimmicks and money. Something special about a smaller club beating a ‘big’ club, and that is sport!”

Of course, this is actually a second Finals appearance in quick succession for our senior men’s teams.

Southern Brave, who officially represent Hampshire and Sussex, reached the final of The Hundred.

But how many cricket followers in Sussex identified with that?

How many people in our county, were they to fancy a night at The Hundred, would first look to see what is going on in London rather than remembering their forced allegiance down the M27?

Sussex are their team. Many will recall that two of their great triumphs of two decades ago came at the expense of Lancashire.

There was the tense race for that first Championship title in 2003, then a Lord’s cliff-hanger in the 2006 C&G Trophy final.

Times have changed since then. When you think about it, it is slightly strange to see a T20 match under floodlights being held up as an event which shows off the game’s traditions.

But Sussex - and county cricket - won on and off the pitch on Wednesday.

Lancashire supporter Clive Taylor tweeted: “Ground terrific. Beer reasonable. Loads of food outlets. Stewards normal people with common sense. Welcoming. Free to wander. Different bloody world.”