Chris Nash made a point to England captain Alastair Cook at Hove yesterday – in more ways than one.

Cook has made it clear there are places in the Test side up for grabs for batsmen who pile up the runs at the start of the County Championship season ahead of the series against Sri Lanka next month.

Nash is well down the pecking order in that respect but might have just reminded a few people of his pedigree by following his first innings century with a priceless 92 against Essex yesterday.

That helped give Sussex a lead of 322 going into what could be an intriguing final day despite suffering an alarming collapse which saw them slump from 165-2 to 242-9 before Ajmal Shahzad and Steve Magoffin took them to 282-9 at the close.

Nash also had a few words of advice for Cook over the hot topic of the new ECB approved batting helmets having been hit by a bouncer from Jamie Porter when he was on just six.

Cook has made it clear he is unhappy with the fixed grille on the new helmets and only wore one under duress in the first innings but Nash is convinced he would have suffered serious damage without it.

Nash said: “The powers that be have a duty of care to protect us and from my point of view it would be silly not to use the best protection you can get.

“Obviously people have personal preference but I know that if I was wearing an old helmet then I would have broken my nose. As it was I was very fortunate and able to carry on with my innings.

“I switched over two-and-a-half years ago so I’m comfortable with the helmet now but I think the ECB were right to change the rules as we’ve seen serious injuries to people like Craig Keiswetter and Mark Boucher in recent years.”