Peter Bartram stormed past six rivals at Ashford last weekend in the veterans county championship but it wasn't enough to halt Sussex's slide down the table.

The 41-year-old top-spinner from Worthing was the star of the Sussex team who defeated Middlesex 6-3, but the county unluckily lost 5-4 to Yorkshire and Kent and now face a battle to stay in the Premier Division.

Nick Standen (Hastings) was undefeated against Middlesex, but Sussex were hampered by the absence of Terry Hailey. He is expected to go back for the next series of matches and with Bartram save Sussex from the drop.

Over 70 players who sent in entry forms for the Sussex Open GP at Christ's Hospital, Horsham next weekend have had their forms returned because the tournament can only take 200 players, even though the event will be on 18 tables.

The sponsors, Ocean International Communications of Brighton, have boosted the men's singles prize from the normal £250 to £1,000.

This surprise move has secured entries from the world No. 37 Austrian-Chinese Chen Weixing and the former world No. 4 Andrezj Grubba, from Poland. England's Gareth Herbert is now expected to be seeded three.