As a pugilistic young cricketer strongly influenced by Dean Jones when they played for Derbyshire, Chris Adams had shown no particular indication that he was a leader in the making. Not, at any rate, until he took exception in the pavilion dining room to a beamer bowled to him by Wasim Akram in a cup final at Lord’s in 1993. Among the crowd that day was Robin Marlar, a former captain of Sussex who was to instigate changes at Hove when he became chairman four years later.

Marlar was from a different background from Adams, yet knew the area of Derbyshire he came from, having once stood at Barlborough as a parliamentary candidate. He saw in Adams something of his own knockabout nature. “What happened in the lunch room made me appreciate Chris had captaincy potential,” Marlar says. “I had learnt that there always had been a world of difference between people from the north of England and those from the south. Northerners had the right attitude and were better at winning cricket matches. I did not know Chris well and I made a habit of not having too much contact with the players when I was writing about them as a journalist, but he has gone on to become a huge figure at Hove.”

Under Adams, Sussex have now become county champions three times in the past five seasons, which is some achievement considering that in 139 years they had not won the championship once. Marlar, who watched his old county take the last five Worcestershire wickets they required yesterday, feels Adams would have made a success of the managerial role at Yorkshire he initially took on last October before changing his mind and committing himself to play for Sussex for a further two seasons. In so doing, he enhanced the likelihood of securing an off-the-field position for himself at Hove in the future.

Gus Mackay, the Sussex chief executive, will be talking to Adams about his intentions in the coming weeks. “Obviously he had a rocky time a year ago when he decided to join Yorkshire, but I admired him for changing his mind. We allowed Derbyshire to talk to Chris when they were looking for a new director of cricket, but he has made it clear that this is his home. We are unique in what we have here, in that the club is successful on and off the field.”

So successful - in addition to the trophies, membership and gate receipts have risen, and, unlike many other counties, Sussex have substantial capital to enable them to develop their headquarters - that Mushtaq Ahmed, remarkably the leading wicket-taker in the country for the fifth year running, has committed himself to the club for two more years. Warwickshire, who have the finance to attract the best, sought him, but, not least because they have been relegated from division one, he chose wisely.

Mushtaq is still good enough to be recalled to Test cricket, but, at the age of 37, knows that is unlikely. That has not affected his enthusiasm. Also, apart from suffering from a knee injury that has prevented him from pushing the ball through as quickly as he would like of late, he had to contend at the start of the season with endless speculation and innuendo over the death of Bob Woolmer, to whom he was assistant coach of Pakistan. He put across to the media how upset he and the players were more succinctly than anybody, not least because he spoke better English than most of them. He no longer holds a coaching position and will be returning to the subcontinent this autumn to recuperate. “But then you never know what’s going to happen in Pakistani cricket,” says Mackay.

According to Mark Robinson, the cricket manager, “Mushy has been bowling for Rana-ul-Naved [his compatriot and teammate, who has been injured], Allah and Sussex. He has such a will to succeed.” In the closest of finishes to the season Mushtaq has been inspired by Adams’s evocation of Imran Khan’s declaration in the 1992 World Cup to his players that they should “fight like cornered tigers”. Mushtaq played in that tournament and Imran has long been one of his heroes.

Buoyed by their £12m legacy from Spen Cama, Sussex have the resources and the reputation to attract cricketers of potential as well as to develop the ground as they see fit. “We have invested heavily in our cricket and are desperate for the facilities that will enable us to build additional income,” says Mackay. “Our daily attendances for championship matches have been more than 2,000 and our membership is up by 6%.”