Yesterday, Surrey’s find of the summer, slow left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi, spun them into third place in the first division of the County Championship with a career best haul of seven for 110. Doshi, who ended up averaging 26.51 runs per victim in nine championship appearances, will undoubtedly be regarded as one of the few positives to come from the loss of Saqlain Mushtaq and the Ovalites’ indifferent 2004 campaign more generally. At one stage, however, a second hundred of the season from Murray Goodwin threatened to spoil the visitors’ end of term party.

At tea Sussex needed a challenging 146 off 34 overs, and with six wickets in hand plus Goodwin still there on 85 the Martlets probably harboured hopes of pulling off an exciting victory. With Martin Bicknell unable to bowl, it was all a question of whether Doshi could overcome the hand injury he picked up in the field and continue wheeling away from the Cromwell Road End.

Just before tea the 25-year-old spinner had bravely held on to a stinging caught and bowled chance to account for Chris Adams, who had been going well and had just passed a thousand runs for the summer. But Goodwin seemed intent on finishing the campaign with a flourish; as he had done in 2003 when he signed off with a career best 335 not out against Leicestershire at Hove.

Seven overs after the break Goodwin reached three figures off 120 balls. His knock included twelve fours and two sixes – one off Doshi, which sailed out of the ground, and another, during a lengthy spell of off-spin from Ormond, which barely rose above head height before thumping into the advertisement boards at mid-wicket.

But then Sussex faltered, losing three wickets in the space of four overs. Matthew Prior went to a one-handed lob to mid-off, Goodwin was outfoxed by a full-length ball in Jimmy Ormond’s third over back as an out-and-out seamer and Mark Davis was adjudged leg before to give Doshi his 30th championship wicket.

Robin Martin-Jenkins was dropped at second slip off Rikki Clarke, but was accounted for three overs later when a leading edge was snapped up at silly point. James Kirtley was caught at deep mid-wicket shortly afterwards and Mushtaq Ahmed was caught behind off a reverse sweep to conclude another season.

Earlier, the visitors added 51 to their overnight score before Jason Lewry wrapped things up with three wickets in four balls to record season best figures of five for 66. Alistair Brown stuck his fourth hundred of the summer, but lost his middle stump in Lewry’s third over of the morning, after which the left-arm seamer cleaned up Ormond and Doshi with a pair of toe-crunching yorkers.

It did not prove to be a romantic end to Tony Cottey’s time at Sussex. In his last innings for the Martlets, the diminutive Welshman was caught on the deep backward square leg boundary for just four. Either side, Sussex lost Richard Montgomerie to a nervous-looking back foot drive and Michael Yardy, whose top-edged sweep was claimed at short-leg.

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