Sussex face two days of resting the body and working the mind after being outplayed on their own patch.

The county were duly finished off by 196 runs against Durham yesterday after going into the final day of their Championship tussle facing a steep uphill battle.

In the end, the last of the seven wickets they had left went soon after tea.

The overnight batsmen Ollie Robinson and Stiaan van Zyl ensured none of their colleagues had to go out to face the music until the afternoon session.

But van Zyl’s dismissal right on lunch sparked an astonishing sequence of 4-0 by seamer Ben Raine coming in from the Sea End which put paid to any realistic hopes of a draw, let along going for an amazing win.

It has been a gruelling schedule for injury-affected Sussex, and indeed for all teams, of late.

Sussex get back at it on Sunday when Northants, who have now replaced Durham at the foot of Specsavers County Championship division two, head to Hove.

But, if they might need to rest a few muscles, there will be plenty of time for individual players to think about how they can put things right.

And indeed for coaching staff led by Jason Gillespie to think about how they can shore things up.

Sussex could do with a lift. They are not just lacking top-order runs and bowling threat, they look flat and need a spark.

Those who can ignite them – Phil Salt, Mir Hamza and, of course, new international Jofra Archer – are among the missing men, although the first two could be back soon.

Chris Jordan is potentially also a catalyst among the Sussex ranks and his burst of 3-0 on the opening day reduced Durham to 90-5.

But the North East county outplayed their hosts from that moment on with three batsmen reaching three figures across the two innings.

That will not have escaped Gillespie as he looks for fresh ways of boosting the Sussex batting, be it from within or outside the county ranks.

Sussex skipper Ben Brown, who was one of those four quickfire Raine victims, said: “I felt Durham out-bowled and out-batted us.

“We were four down for nothing against the new ball again (when Sussex were 41-4 in their first innings) and that is something we have to rectify pretty quickly because it meant we were up against it for the last couple of days.

“We probably have to look at making changes because we can’t keep being 30-4 every time.

“Ben Raine was pretty relentless and there are lessons for our bowlers to learn in the way he bowled straight and kept coming at us.

“We fell below our usual standards and that is a big disappointment.

“It’s a brutal schedule at the moment with another game starting on Sunday but that gives us a quick opportunity against Northants to put things right.”

Sussex were 59-3 on resumption chasing an unlikely 437 to win but looked like they might emerge unscathed from the morning session.

Robinson was missed by James Weighell at point and survived a failed stumping attempt before van Zyl was put down off Raine by Alex Lees at slip.

But Raine gave Durham a huge lift when he had the South African caught behind right on lunch for a 188-ball 48.

Laurie Evans edged the first ball of the afternoon session behind and then Brown and David Wiese were pinned right in front.

Jordan and the admirable Robinson, who was unwell throughout the match, put on 54 for the eighth wicket and used up 18 overs.

But the end was nigh when Robinson fell to a brilliant slip catch by Jack Burnham off Chris Rushworth to be eighth man out.

Raine switched to the Cromwell Road End to take the last two wickets after tea.

– and leave Sussex with a few questions to answer.