Battling Murray Goodwin gives Sussex hope against Nottinghamshire If there was ever a moment for Murray Goodwin to run into some form, it was on Sunday at Hove where Sussex were in danger of cruising to defeat in the face of Nottinghamshire's pressure cooker tactics. There had been mutterings that the 40-year-old batsman had passed his sell-by date due to a prolonged spell of misery in which he made just 38 runs from seven championship innings. His contribution is usually prolific apart from 2009 when he failed to get past 22 in his first 11 championship innings. So when he rolled his wrists to move past 16, his highest score of the summer so far, the ripple of applause was gentle with a hint of desperation since Sussex were looking feeble, with four wickets down in their second innings but still 10 runs behind Nottinghamshire's first-innings total. When he cut Samit Patel to bring up his half-century, the applause was more spirited with a hint of relief since he and Luke Wright had eased Sussex into a better position with an unbroken partnership of 78 though they will have to fight even harder today to make sure of the draw. Goodwin's innings was a gnarly battling one, the 50 coming from 124 balls with just three fours but getting the monkey off his back might be the tonic Sussex need to up their game though some bad blood between him and Andy Carter required a visit to the umpires after play. A dusty flat pitch, which is becoming increasingly uncertain, posed problems for the batsmen all day long but the spoils could have been greater had bowlers from both attacks pitched the ball up more, as Steve Magoffin proved when he eventually had Riki Wessels caught behind, after a monumental innings of 199. Jimmy Anyon's length tempted a few into catchable strikes as Nottinghamshire finished their innings with a lead of 119. It left Sussex needing to shore up their defences and stay put but that plan was shattered by Carter, who made use of the uneven bounce and his considerable height to shake up the top order for three for 52 which may prove to be a match-winning spell.