Hick made 132 and Solanki a career-best 155 as they put on 243 for the third wicket before Worcestershire declared at 343 for three, 418 ahead.

That left them four sessions of play to bowl Sussex out.

During a tense period in early afternoon, both batsmen became stuck on 99. Solanki, born in India, reached his century first, to be followed shortly by Hick, who became the second youngest and third quickest of the 24 players to reach 100 hundreds.

Only cricketing greats Sir Don Bradman of Australia and Denis Compton of England did so in fewer innings.

Hick celebrated immediately with a glass of champagne brought out to him in the middle.

It was his third century in successive innings and came on the day he had again been ignored by the England selectors, who last picked him in 1996 against India.

Local rivals

The likelihood of defeat for Sussex was another boost for Surrey, who went clear at the top of the table by beating fourth-placed Kent and then heard that third-placed Derbyshire had also lost.

Surrey needed only 25 minutes of the third day's play to complete victory over their local rivals by an innings and 30 runs.

Derbyshire lost to Leicestershire by 38 runs at Chesterfield after being dismissed for 217 in their second innings, Dominic Cork making only eight after being recalled to the England team earlier in the day.

Durham beat Nottinghamshire by eight wickets at Trent Bridge for their second victory in three matches after winning only two all last season.

Champions Glamorgan left Middlesex needing 313 for victory at Lord's, which would be the highest total of the match.

In the 40-overs league, a dazzling 83 from Queensland captain Stuart Law put Essex on their way to victory over Northamptonshire and made them joint leaders with Yorkshire.

Somerset beat Warwickshire after skittling them for only 96.

Jonty seals Test place

Gary Kirsten scored his second century of the match as South Africa reached 200 for three in their second innings - a lead of 213 - at the close of play on day three of the four-day match against Gloucestershire on Sunday.

Kirsten's authoritative, unbeaten 104 from 192 balls contained all the aggression and power that was missing from his more patient 125 from 266 balls in the first innings.

The lynchpin of the tourists' batting looked in magnificent form ahead of Thursday's first Test against England.

It was the second time that Kirsten has scored a pair of 100s in the same match for South Africa after compiling 102 and 133 in a test against India in Calcutta in 1995.

Jonty Rhodes cemented his place in the first test side with a remarkable half century from just 36 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes and finishing the day with an unbeaten 68.