JIMMY Daley's future with Durham is safe as far as Martyn Moxon is concerned and the coach also praised Stephen Harmison after Durham recorded their first championship win in ten meetings with Sussex.

It needed only 12.2 overs on Saturday morning for Durham to take the remaining three wickets and win by 71 runs.

"It's very pleasing to beat Sussex for the first time," said Moxon. "After losing the last two games we showed character against the top team.

"There was a lot of application throughout the match, particularly on the first morning when the ball was moving all over the place.

"Jimmy's contribution was outstanding. He held the innings together and it was a match-winning effort. He's out of contract at the end of the season but I don't think this makes any difference. As far as I was concerned there was no problem.

"It has been a frustrating season for him. He started well but was injured for a long stretch and it took him a while to get used to the pace of first-class cricket again.

"I hope this will give him the confidence to finish the season strongly. He has ability and in the past he has not backed himself as much as he could have done. He has been mentally stronger this year."

Harmison took the last wicket with the second delivery with the new ball on Saturday, when James Kirtley went for a big hit and was bowled, leaving Sussex on 265 all out.

It was Harmison's seventh wicket of the match, equalling his best match haul of the season, but it was the four-wicket spell with the new ball on Thursday morning which greatly impressed Moxon.

"It was the best I have seen from him," said the coach. "It's all down to rhythm with him and he needs to bowl to get that right.

"When it's slightly off he falls away, but throughout this match he has stayed tall and got the ball in good areas."

Durham's win merely guaranteed that they cannot be left with the wooden spoon, which is going to Derbyshire.

But wins for Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire left Durham still in danger of finishing next to the bottom. They are only a quarter of a point ahead of Worcestershire, who have a game in hand and visit the Riverside for Durham's last match next week.

No Durham bowler is going to reach 50 wickets in this injury-plagued season, with Danny Law leading the way on 37 followed by Harmison on 32.

Durham have no fully-fit seamers at the moment. Harmison and James Brinkley both needed treatment for hamstring strains at Hove, Law has a sore toe and Nicky Hatch was off the field on Saturday with a painful rash on his feet.

Law took the first two wickets, moving a good-length ball away to have Robin Martin-Jenkins caught by Andrew Pratt for a career-best 94. With Sussex needing 99 at the start of play Durham set the field back to give Martin-Jenkins singles which he was happy to take.

But he looked fortunate to survive the seventh ball of the day, when Law thought he had him caught behind.

After the breakthrough in the eighth over Law struck again two overs later when Jason Lewry edged to Brinkley at first slip.

It was all over inside an hour, leaving Durham fans pondering a sweltering afternoon in gridlocked Brighton.

* Leaders Durham suffered a setback yesterday when their Norwich Union League second division game against Sussex at Hove was washed out.

While most of the four-day championship clash was played in baking sunshine, the fun ended dramatically yesterday for Brighton's Bank Holiday crowds.

The permanent floodlights which have been installed to stage four day-night matches this season at Hove would certainly have been needed at 11am just before the storm broke. Half an hour's torrential rain brought an announcement that there would be a pitch inspection at 2pm, but further rain prompted a 3pm abandonment.

Durham had brought Marc Symington and Nicky Phillips down for the match and they travelled on with the rest of the squad to Cardiff for today's NUL match against Glamorgan. After that Durham have only two home games left - against Essex next Sunday and Worcestershire the following week

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