Sussex have told their young guns to learn from their near miss against the masters.

The county suffered an agonising three-wicket defeat to county champions Essex at Hove in the Bob Willis Trophy.

Their realistic hopes of progress to the Lord’s final are now over.

But their youthful side turned in an impressive response to a hefty defeat at Kent in their previous fixture.

Essex got home in a tense finale chasing 196 to win.

Sussex skipper Ben Brown said: “We're really flat because we lost and it's difficult to take when you get so close to winning but, after losing by an innings to Kent last week, I was really proud of the performance we put in.

"We've got a young team so to go toe to toe with the county champions over four days speaks volume for the way we've reacted to last week.

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“It was always a tough challenge taking on the county champions but it's also a great experience for our youngsters to play against guys like Alastair Cook and Simon Harmer.

“Although we're disappointed not to get over the line there have been a lot of positives for us."