Hampshire gained two points on Sussex in moving up to third in the Championship table at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

More than two days were lost to rain during the course of the match but John Crawley gave Hampshire hope of an unlikely win with his first Championship century of the season, an unbeaten 113 that gave his side a first-innings lead of 105.

Hampshire had gained only their 15th batting point of the season when Shane Warne declared at 250-9 with 43 overs remaining.

Daren Powell (2-32) helped reduce Sussex to 21-3 on his debut but once the visitors had reached 124-4 - a lead of 19 runs with six overs left - hands were shaken and Hampshire had drawn their sixth match of the season.

Sussex captain Chris Adams put on 79 for the fourth wicket with Murray Goodwin but Warne could not resist goading his opposite number.

He treated Adams like a number 11 by gifting Murray Goodwin singles to get the Sussex skipper on strike as the match drifted towards the close.

Afterwards, Adams admitted his disappointment at having to play on a wet Rose Bowl outfield, particularly on Friday.

Sussex all rounder Luke Wright suffered a groin strain while fielding, and Adams admitted the conditions were as bad as any he had played in.

He said: "Cosmetically it looked fine and you can understand the paying public's frustration because it looked okay but on Friday the ground was so waterlogged and the water table underneath so high that it wouldn't even take a stud.

"The nature of the two teams made it the hardest game of the season for any umpire but I thought their decision-making was superb. But the injury Luke suffered, and it could easily have happened to one of their players, could have been avoided and I told the umpires that."

Warne said: "Unfortunately the rain keeps falling and if we wait for ideal conditions we won't bowl a ball at any ground the way the weather is at the moment.

"It's not ideal but everyone should want to play."

Adams also made known his view that the Rose Bowl floodlights should not be used in the Championship.

Since the start of the season the use of the £500,000 floodlights in first-class matches has been at the discretion of the umpires.

Warne said: "For some reason the red ball nips around a lot more when the lights are on but I think both captains should decide before a ball is bowled whether the lights are available."