It seems the most enduring partnership in county cricket has a while to go before it runs its course.

Peter Moores and Chris Adams are preparing for their eighth season together as coach and captain of Sussex, convinced they can guide the county to more success before the inevitable parting of the ways.

A few days ago it looked as if that might happen sooner than anyone expected. Moores was one of four candidates when the West Indies decided to look overseas for the first time in their search for a successor to Gus Logie as head coach.

He was interviewed in London a few days before West Indies beat England in the Champions Trophy final at the end of September and the consensus in the Caribbean was that Moores, rather than bookies' choice Greg Chappell, was favourite.

Instead, they went for Queensland and Australian Academy coach Bennett King. Moores was told the bad news a week ago, but such is the haphazard way cricket seems to be administered in the Caribbean it wasn't until Tuesday that Dean's appointment was confirmed.

Moores hid his disappointment well. He was concerned about the effect of uprooting from Sussex to Antigua would have on his family, but would have loved to have tested himself at the next level all the same.

Moores loves Sussex cricket and feels there is a lot more to do at Hove, but he is ambitious. He is regularly mentioned as a possible successor to England coach Duncan Fletcher and that would be his dream job. Mind you, 17 other county coaches would say the same.

Rather than dwelling on his disappointment, Moores is throwing himself into preparations for the 2005 season.

"It was disappointing to get so close," he said. "For a coach of a first-class team it has got to be the next level up. You're working with a better standard of player and although the international schedule is busy you do have more practice and preparation time with players.

"But I've got to put that to one side now. There are huge challenges all the time at Sussex, the main one being to make sure as a county that we are at the top domestically for a very long time."

After winning the Championship for the first time in 2003, Sussex finished fifth last season. Expectation levels soared and anticlimax was perhaps inevitable, but Moores is convinced his side will have a red hot go' at the title next summer.

The squad looks reasonably settled. Mike Yardy, Mark Davis, Carl Hopkinson and Jason Lewry have all, verbally at least, agreed their new contracts and Moores expects Murray Goodwin to confirm his return on a three-year contract as a Kolpak registration in the next few days.

That just leaves a spot for a front-line seamer to replace Surrey-bound Mohammad Akram. Sussex supporters may be concerned that other counties seem to have stolen a march on the county in terms of recruitment for next season, but Moores offers no apologies for biding his time to make sure Sussex make the right signing.

"There are already a few names under discussion, but we are looking for someone who is more or less guaranteed to take 50 or more Championship wickets, a like-for-like replacement for Mohammad in other words," he said.

"There are a lot of players out there and of course the sooner it is sorted out the better, but it needs to be the right person and sometimes that can take time."

Whether the Adams-Moores axis, which has been the cornerstone of Sussex's success over the past five years, will be in place a year from now is open to question.

Adams will lead the county for the eighth year in 2005, equalling Arthur Gilligan's record as the longest-serving captain in Sussex history. But the 34-year-old has indicated that he would like to return to the ranks before retiring so he can concentrate on achieving some personal milestones such as 15,000 runs and 50 first-class hundreds.

"I think there is certainly one more year of the Peter Moores-Chris Adams combination," said Moores.

"Personally, I don't feel stale but you have to keep questioning yourself all the time because you don't want to become a hindrance. Hopefully I'm not at that stage at the moment."

Moores' current contract has another two years to run and, unless an international job comes up, he is unlikely to leave in that time. Adams, too, is committed to the club until the end of the 2006 season.

"Personally speaking, I don't see why I won't fulfil my contract," said Moores. "A lot has changed since I became coach in 1997 and we've had some success. But in a funny way not getting the West Indies job has re-energised me a bit.

"Next season will be another huge challenge because I definitely believe we have the squad which can have another crack at winning the title."

There would certainly be no better way of bringing the most successful era in Sussex's recent history to an end.