Date-stamped : 22 Sep97 - 06:21 Welton misses first century By Neville Scott at Hove First day of four: Notts 337-5 v Sussex IF SUSSEX are to secure the win they must now contrive to avoid a third wooden spoon in 11 seasons and their sixth since the war, their batsmen, so brittle during eight defeats in the last nine games, will have to reply in kind to Notting- hamshire`s happy use of a placid pitch. A last-day run chase looks the best hope. So devastated have Sussex`s ranks become, through winter de- fections and recent retirements, that only two of this side were mem- bers of last year`s first-choice team. Claiming a bats- men with the day`s third delivery proved the falsest of dawns. Mathew Dowman, prolific of late, tried to flick a ball of very full length through square leg and, done for pace, went for his season`s first duck, lbw to Jim Kirtley. It was an hour after lunch be- fore another succumbed. By this stage 19-year-old Guy Welton, a Grimsby man like team- mate Wayne Noon in a side now as much Lincolnshire as Not- ting- hamshire, had passed a patient, careful maiden 50 in his ninth championship innings. That rarity, a sportsman opting for cricket ahead of football (Welton once came on for Grimsby Town as a substitute), he was expand- ing with a good range of shots when Tim Robinson fell. Missed when on 17 by the wicketkeeper standing up to the seam of namesake Mark, Robinson was done in the air by spinner Justin Bates, whose admirable economy was only later upset by Paul John- son`s footwork. Welton, however, stuck on 88 for nine overs, rather froze as a first century beckoned, nerves undoing him as he pushed forward to go lbw for 95. From 189 for three, Sussex`s slim chance of limiting damage soon disappeared under the weight of Johnson`s shots, racing him to 74 in 98 balls. The myth has got about, based on bonus points, that Sussex`s attack is notably penetrative. But bowling points, now a largely meaningless and indefensible anomaly, show little these days. In terms of runs per wicket taken Sussex are, in fact, among the three weakest sides in the championship. Straight, persistent and willing they remained, Kirtley the pick, but in unavailing conditions breakthroughs seemed unlikely. Paul Pollard, back from injury after seven games, did go four overs from the close, but Sussex have much to do. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Bates puts on brake for Sussex By Neville Scott at Hove Second day of four: Sussex (80-2) trail Nottinghamshire (454-9 dec) by 374 runs HELPED by the loss of the last 31 overs, Sussex were just about on course to avoid following on and gain a last-day run- chase, their one realistic hope throughout of the win needed to dump the wooden spoon on Derbyshire. Requiring 225 more, the first objective should be gained in around two sessions today if they can get that far. On a pitch still be- nign and getting slower, it should not be beyond even their battered self-belief. Nottinghamshire`s long grind to a massive first-innings total fell foul of off-spinner Justin Bates, taking a maiden five-wick- et haul in his fifth championship match. Bates` three successes in 20 balls directly after lunch left the morning tactics - 106 runs in 38 overs - looking a little per- verse. But Usman Afzaal, with his first fifty for 20 championship in- nings since starting the season so well, has still to expand on the stolidity invaluable in other match contexts. Falling for a career-best 80 clawed from 77 overs after being felled by Jim Kirtley`s bouncer, he drove Bates to short mid-off. When Sussex opener Toby Pierce departed in similar fashion just before the early close to Notts` own off-spinning Bates, Richard, all six slow bowlers` scalps had come from infield catches to balls not coming on. This, and Sussex`s recent dis- mal batting record, looks the biggest threat today. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Sussex`s Mark Newell scored an unbeaten maiden century to help his side reach 314 for five declared in reply to Notts` first-in- nings total of 337 for five declared at Hove. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Sussex duly finished bottom of the championship after drawing with Nottinghamshire at Hove. Left a generous 356 in 82 overs on a pitch too slow for total freedom, Sussex, 199 for two at tea, then needed 5.23 per over. But without a run added, Keith Newell`s drive was deflected on to the stumps leaving Toby Peirce (90) out of his ground. Three more wickets fell regularly at the other end before Newell (75), now facing 9.36 per over, was also run out seeking a single. Sussex blocked through the last 49 balls to finish on 287 for seven. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)