CHRIS SCHOFIELD admits he's no Neil Fairbrother - but he made a good fist of his first test in the crucial number five position for Lancashire last night.

The gamble of leaving out Fairbrother and pushing Schofield up the order in a bid to rebuild his fragile bowling confidence paid off as the leg-spinner top-scored with 36 in Lancashire's nervy four-wicket win against Sussex at Hove.

They could have done with Fairbrother's years of knowhow as Stuart Law and David Byas fell in consecutive overs to leave them 105 for four in reply to Sussex's total of 169 - with no recognised batsmen to come.

But Schofield, playing his first senior match for six weeks, showed the confidence to bat in his normal unorthodox style and hit 36 from 50 balls - the top score of the Lancashire innings.

When he launched a six over mid wicket, the only one of a low-scoring match, it seemed that the 23-year-old was going to steer Lightning home.

But then he showed that he has a long way to go to match Fairbrother by throwing away his wicket with a wild heave when Lancashire were still 14 runs short.

Fortunately Jamie Haynes and John Wood kept their cool, with Wood hitting the first ball of the last over for four to secure a fourth win in five Norwich Union League matches which keeps their outside chance of promotion just about alive.

"I'm annoyed with myself for getting out but pleased to have played my part in a win," said Schofield, clutching his bottle of champagne as the Sky TV man of the match.

"I've been in the seconds for a long time working hard on my bowling and it's nice to get back in the first team and have the chance to bat a bit higher up. In the past I've always been down at eight or nine but I really enjoyed getting in a bit earlier."

Schofield had also taken a wicket in the Sussex innings although he was the only Lancashire bowler to concede more than four runs per over as acting captain Stuart Law's surprising decision to bowl his spinners in the closing stages helped the Sharks recover from 79 for six.

Earby's Glen Chapple had reduced them to 27 for three with a superb opening spell, his best in the League this season, and Kyle Hogg then showed what Lancashire have been missing for the last month - when he has been away on England under-19 duty - with two cracking deliveries to dismiss Robin Martin-Jenkins and the dangerous Murray Goodwin.

Lancashire then lost Alec Swann for a duck and despite handy contributions from Byas, Law and Mark Chilton, they would have been in desperate trouble if Schofield hadn't come in to play the Fairbrother role.

Could it be a turning point in his stop-start career?