LUKE WELLS was left kicking himself after he and Ben Brown just missed out on eclipsing a Sussex record which had stood since 1937.

The pair added 294 for the fifth wicket against Glamorgan at Hove yesterday to put Sussex in a strong position to push for a second County Championship win of the season.

It was the highest partnership for any wicket against Glamorgan but Wells was dismissed when the stand was three runs short of the 297 put on by brothers Jim and Harry Parks against Hampshire at Portsmouth.

Wells, who batted for four minutes shy of seven hours for his 181, said: “It was good fun out there. We had no idea about any records and I only found out we were so close when I got back to the changing room and saw on social media.

“It means I probably shouldn’t have given it (his wicket) away but I was more annoyed I didn’t get the not out. The most important thing was it helped us get a big lead and hopefully it is enough to go on and win the game.”

Brown finished unbeaten on 159 and was denied the chance to beat his career-best 163 when skipper Luke Wright declared with Sussex on 552-5.

The move paid dividends as Steve Magoffin dismissed opener Nick Selman to leave Glamorgan 30-1, still trailing by 187 going into the final day today.

Brown said: “I did have one eye on a career-best but Wrighty told us our job was to bat for a certain number of overs so knew we were done after that. It was a little bit disappointing but I’ll take 159 not out every day of the week.”