Sussex director of cricket Paul Farbrace spoke about the win at Hampshire and the season overall after victory in the final game of the season meant a third-place finish in the County Championship.
The third place finish came in spite of a 12-point deduction at the start of the season for breaking financial rules.
Farbrace said: “We’ve had a few heavy speeches that got a bit emotional. I’m just so proud of them. We’ve talked about it pretty much every week.
“We’ve been through some really tough times as a club – and we’re still going through that from a financial point of view – but the players in our dressing room have been absolutely outstanding.
“They try for one another and they’re very pleased with one another’s success and they’re very proud of one another’s success and that’s unique in professional sport.
“There’s so many that I’m proud of, even the lads that are moving on – Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Henry Crocombe, Tom Alsop, George Thomas – they’re great people and I just can’t be more proud of them as a group.
“We’ve had no (James) Coles last week, no (Henry) Crocombe this week, no (Ollie) Robinson last week.
“He started off as our captain and he’s finished off in the England team and, hopefully, he gets a central contract and is part of what goes on with England over the next couple of years to come.
“When I watch them in there watching the last few balls of the Yorkshire game and the cheer that went up because they knew they finished third, that’s where you get your enjoyment as a coach.
“One thing we’re really proud of is our dressing room culture. You think of the overseas players. They’ve come back year after year. Not because they’re earning loads of money. Not because we’re winning trophy after trophy. But they love being in that unit.
“We get a lot of stick about certain things. We’ve made mistakes financially and that’s why we’re in the position that we’re in.
“But there’s loads of other good people at Sussex who haven’t made mistakes, who haven’t got things wrong and do nothing but care about the cricket and the players and the club – and they’re the people that days like today are about.”
Hampshire captain Ben Brown said: “It was a sort of game that summed up our season to be honest. Lots of things were following a similar pattern to the rest of the year and it showed why we’ve been relegated.
“We’re just not good enough at the moment in this division. We’re a team in transition and we need to rebuild as quick as we can.”
“I’ve said to the guys their commitment’s been outstanding this year but the skill level has not been there and the players are aware of that and they’re hurting.
“But sometimes you need to face the reality in order to get better and make the changes you need to come back up as soon as we can and challenge for titles again.
“I’m really proud to captain Hampshire. I was really proud to do it at Sussex and I know I can take that criticism.
“There’s nobody as harsh on themselves than me and probably a lot of guys in leadership roles feel the same.
“I’m happy to lead the side (in Division Two). If inside the dressing room they feel I’m doing as good a job as I can do then, yeah, I’d love to carry on.
“But the dust hasn’t settled on a difficult season at the moment. I think everyone needs a bit of space and a bit of a break to reset.”
