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Former stars salute Sussex
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan was among the first to send congratulations to Sussex following their County Championship title success.
Congratulations on the first ever title which when I played was so elusive
Imran Khan
Imran, who played for the county from on and off from 1977 to 1988, said he was "delighted" to hear the news.
"Since I am so actively involved in politics I never get to know what's happening in international cricket, although occasionally I get to talk to John Barclay, who was our captain," he told the BBC Sport website.
Sussex finished runners-up in 1981 during Imran's spell at Hove and he believes they could have won the title that year but for the absence of a quality spinner.
"When we came second to Nottinghamshire, it was because they had Eddie Hemmings supporting [Richard] Hadlee and [Clive] Rice. I tried to bring in Abdul Qadir but somehow it did not materialise."
Former Sussex captain Ted Dexter, who led them to back-to-back Gillette Cup wins in 1963-64, said being second seven times had been hard to swallow and he was "absolutely thrilled" by their success.
"We had our old boys reunion the Saturday before last when they were playing Middlesex and they played so fantastically well - they were in a huge hole, but they climbed out of it and won the game.
"Little Mush [Mushtaq Ahmed] has made a huge difference, but they've got a good all-round side. When the big names fail, then somebody chips in."
Alan Wells, Sussex skipper from 1992-96, also hailed a "fantastic team effort".
Alan Wells scored more than 17,000 runs for Sussex
He said: "Mushtaq's taken 100 wickets and he'll probably take most of the accolades but Andrew Caddick took 100 wickets for Somerset [in 1998], and they never won anything.
"It's not just about taking wickets, it's about scoring runs and the top order, the middle and lower middle order have at some stage during the season scored some vital runs."
Wells added: "I played for Sussex Schools from the age of 15 onwards and had 16 years as a professional at Sussex.
"Although I had five fantastic years at Kent, which I thoroughly enjoyed, my heart remained with Sussex despite trying to do a professional job for them."
Tony Pigott, a Sussex player for 18 years and the club's chief executive from 1997 to 1999, was the man who recruited current skipper Chris Adams.
But he believes everyone on the staff at Hove has had a part to play in the team's advance.
"When I took over we lost six capped players that winter - James Kirtley was on the verge of leaving - and the first thing we had to do was address that, stabliise the club and build for the future," said Pigott.
"The thing I wanted to do was to get everybody to work together as a unit - the players, the admin staff, the members, the committee, the sponsors, club cricketers - and buy into the vision.
"One part of the vision was the win the Championship in five years. At the time, people thought I was completely mad.
"This is the sixth year - so I was a year out."
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan was among the first to send congratulations to Sussex following their County Championship title success.
Congratulations on the first ever title which when I played was so elusive
Imran Khan
Imran, who played for the county from on and off from 1977 to 1988, said he was "delighted" to hear the news.
"Since I am so actively involved in politics I never get to know what's happening in international cricket, although occasionally I get to talk to John Barclay, who was our captain," he told the BBC Sport website.
Sussex finished runners-up in 1981 during Imran's spell at Hove and he believes they could have won the title that year but for the absence of a quality spinner.
"When we came second to Nottinghamshire, it was because they had Eddie Hemmings supporting [Richard] Hadlee and [Clive] Rice. I tried to bring in Abdul Qadir but somehow it did not materialise."
Former Sussex captain Ted Dexter, who led them to back-to-back Gillette Cup wins in 1963-64, said being second seven times had been hard to swallow and he was "absolutely thrilled" by their success.
"We had our old boys reunion the Saturday before last when they were playing Middlesex and they played so fantastically well - they were in a huge hole, but they climbed out of it and won the game.
"Little Mush [Mushtaq Ahmed] has made a huge difference, but they've got a good all-round side. When the big names fail, then somebody chips in."
Alan Wells, Sussex skipper from 1992-96, also hailed a "fantastic team effort".
Alan Wells scored more than 17,000 runs for Sussex
He said: "Mushtaq's taken 100 wickets and he'll probably take most of the accolades but Andrew Caddick took 100 wickets for Somerset [in 1998], and they never won anything.
"It's not just about taking wickets, it's about scoring runs and the top order, the middle and lower middle order have at some stage during the season scored some vital runs."
Wells added: "I played for Sussex Schools from the age of 15 onwards and had 16 years as a professional at Sussex.
"Although I had five fantastic years at Kent, which I thoroughly enjoyed, my heart remained with Sussex despite trying to do a professional job for them."
Tony Pigott, a Sussex player for 18 years and the club's chief executive from 1997 to 1999, was the man who recruited current skipper Chris Adams.
But he believes everyone on the staff at Hove has had a part to play in the team's advance.
"When I took over we lost six capped players that winter - James Kirtley was on the verge of leaving - and the first thing we had to do was address that, stabliise the club and build for the future," said Pigott.
"The thing I wanted to do was to get everybody to work together as a unit - the players, the admin staff, the members, the committee, the sponsors, club cricketers - and buy into the vision.
"One part of the vision was the win the Championship in five years. At the time, people thought I was completely mad.
"This is the sixth year - so I was a year out."