DIRECTOR of cricket Steve Rhodes was disappointed Worcestershire were unable to put the finishing touches to a “fantastic effort” after recovering from being on the receiving end of Sussex batsman Matt Machan’s first-day onslaught at Hove.

The County fought back from Machan’s 70-ball 100 to bowl their opponents out twice and gain a first-innings lead of 44 in the LV= County Championship Division One encounter, only to be dismissed for 185 and go down by 61 runs.

Rhodes, who was unhappy with the lbw decisions that accounted for skipper Daryl Mitchell and Alex Gidman in the second innings, said: “I thought after they were 150-1 for lunch on the first day, to get ourselves in a position where we could win the match was a fantastic effort by the team.

“But sadly we failed to carry that out so that was a disappointment.

“I think at 57-0, we were going really well chasing that score (247), and then we were 60-3 with two decisions our best two players have experienced in Daryl and Alex. But I’m not allowed to talk about lbws, so I won’t comment on it.

“They got back in the game and that hurt us. It is something we are going to have to address because we lost quite a clutter of wickets and we can’t afford to do that.

“They are a young, inexperienced side that are learning all the time but those are the sort of experiences that take a bit of time to get over and learn from but it’s something we will definitely have to address.”

The County chief continued: “We’ve been very competitive in the two games but when you are playing tough cricket, you are waiting for opportunities to arrive and then you take them and that’s sadly what we haven’t done.”

Sussex skipper Ed Joyce praised Worcestershire’s players for their efforts.

He said: “Worcestershire fought really hard and you have to give them credit.

“It was an excellent game on a really good cricket wicket.”

Worcestershire now have a break before returning to action in Division One against Somerset at New Road starting on Sunday, May 3.