Matt Machan would not have played for Sussex against Worcestershire here on Sunday but for Michael Yardy falling ill the previous day and Chris Nash going down with a hamstring injury.
There was a sudden frailty to the Sussex top order but Machan, who appeared in just seven Championship matches last season, dispelled any uneasiness in the home dressing room by playing an extraordinary innings. The pugnacious left-hander, who represented Scotland in the recent World Cup, looked likely at one stage to score a century before lunch, even though he did not come to the crease until the end of the sixth over, after Luke Wells had edged to gully.
His first seven scoring shots were fours, as he unleashed a fusillade of muscular drives. Then, after a couple of singles, he flicked Jack Shantry over midwicket for six for a 17-ball 36, and reached his fifty off just 27 balls with a virtual replica. Worcestershire attempted to dampen Machan’s spirit by bringing on the Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake. But the 24-year-old merely struck his second ball for four and hoisted his fifth over midwicket for a third six.
Then he slowed, losing the strike and also limping heavily for a brief time after scampering a rare single. He was still on a remarkable and unbeaten 87 not out from 63 balls when lunch arrived, with Sussex 153 for one. After the break Machan, who scored a World Cup half-century against New Zealand in Dunedin, reached the third century of his career by lifting Shantry for another six over midwicket. He had faced 70 balls. He went on to complete a career-best 135 before skying a catch to deep midwicket, having faced 100 deliveries and struck 18 fours and four sixes.
He said afterwards: “I didn’t know I was playing until breakfast, and then I wanted to make the most of it. In the past I have struggled with the tempo and rhythm of four-day cricket. I have attacked in the one-day game but blocked the life out of it in Championship cricket. I think playing with so many top players in the World Cup helped my game. And I did a lot of work on the short ball.”
Worcestershire, the yo-yo side of county cricket, were already fighting relegation, it seemed, as Sussex put their bowlers under pressure. They were heavily beaten in their opening fixture by a severely depleted Yorkshire side, and are without Moeen Ali, who is joining his England colleagues in the Caribbean, and must wait until midsummer before they are reinforced by the reconstructed off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.
But at the end of the Sussex innings, as the players left the field, it was the visitors who had a little hop in their step, having dismissed an ultimately underachieving side for 345 to collect maximum bowling points.
At the top of the order Ed Joyce scored a 116-ball 49, with seven fours, and in the middle Luke Wright hit his third fifty in as many Championship innings, his 51 including eight powerful boundaries. But they did not go on, and Ajmal Shahzad, stranded on 45 not out at the end, ran out of partners. Sussex, who had been 231 for three, should have scored 400, possibly 450.
Worcestershire, encouraged by their recovery, then made 45 without loss by the close. There is bounce in this wicket, and some of it is already uneven. Sussex may yet win a decent first-innings lead but Worcestershire’s players looked relieved at the end of play.
