Sussex, weakened by injuries, short on experience with bat as well as ball, were likely always to find the going tough here but just how tough may have taken even them by surprise
Jon Culley at Trent Bridge22-Apr-2017
ScorecardSussex, weakened by injuries, short on experience with bat as well as ball, were likely always to find the going tough here but just how tough may have taken even them by surprise. The only consolation in losing to Nottinghamshire inside two days is that they will not face as formidable an attack again this summer.Indeed, it is quite possible that no one will, which is something Nottinghamshire may have suspected would be the consequence of James Pattinson’s contribution to their three wins from three.The combination of Pattinson, Stuart Broad and Jake Ball had older Trent Bridge members recalling the days of Hadlee and Rice, even Larwood and Voce, in trying to assess where it might be placed, given their pedigree, in a pecking order of Nottinghamshire attacks, yet the recall of the 26-year-old from Melbourne to Australia’s one-day squad may limit their appearance together in the county’s scorecard archive to this match only.Pattinson’s selection for Australia’s Champions Trophy squad means that, instead of playing nine four-day matches, his stint at Trent Bridge will probably be limited to the three he has completed. Nonetheless, he will sit impressively among Nottinghamshire’s overseas players even if he never plays another first-class match, his contribution amounting to 20 wickets at an average of 11.12.There is a possibility that he might be allowed to return to face Leicestershire and Kent in late June but it is difficult to imagine, somehow, that England’s management of player workload would also allow both Broad and Ball to be available too.Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores was philosophical about losing Pattinson so soon.”It is disappointing, of course, because with bat and ball he has been outstanding,” he said. “He gives everything he has got and that’s appreciated by the members and certainly by his team-mates.”But you accept these days that players are pushing to play at the highest level. Playing for your country is what everybody strives for and we knew when we signed him there was always a chance Australia would want him back because he is a high quality, exciting player.”You just have to enjoy having players like him when they are able to play for you. And having seen the form he is in I think Australia made the right decision. He would have been unlucky not to have got in.”Nottinghamshire have up to 12 names on their list of potential replacements for Pattinson, the majority offered by agents rather than identified by the county. They may decide to pursue none of them, although Moores is keen not to lose the momentum Pattinson has given their early-season form.”It will have to be the right kind of player but it is a busy period during the Champions Trophy with a lot of Championship cricket and hopefully the later stages of the Royal London Cup so we will be looking to get somebody in,” he said.Sussex, still shaken by Nottinghamshire’s extraordinary Riki Wessels-inspired recovery from 88 for 5 on the opening day, were in bad shape when they resumed, having been reduced to 11 for 3 on the first evening. Spectators had barely settled when Delray Rawlins, one of five players in the Sussex line-up with 13 first-class appearances or fewer, gave Pattinson his third wicket of the first innings, feathering a catch to wicketkeeper Chris Read, his 500th dismissal at Trent Bridge.Laurie Evans quickly provided Pattinson’s fourth, edging to second slip, where Samit Patel held a sharp catch. Stiann van Zyl and Luke Wright tried to fight back but with none of the four Nottinghamshire seamers, Luke Fletcher included, content merely to play a supporting role, there was no break in the pressure. Ball ended the resistance of both, and Fletcher quickly dealt with Ben Brown.Still 288 runs behind when the last wicket fell, conveniently giving the bowlers the lunch interval in which to recharge, Sussex were inevitably asked to follow on. They did a little better, Chris Nash grafting to a half-century and Wright as ever on the front foot, but wickets fell at a similar frequency.Jofra Archer, a bowler who can clearly bat, was wonderfully disrespectful in the way he went for his shots in both innings, scoring 40 off 29 balls the first time, when he struck Ball for a six and two fours off consecutive deliveries, and 47 off 32 in the second. He looks a prospect, but otherwise it was an experience Sussex on which Sussex would be wise not to dwell.