The keenness of two county captains to get this match under way, despite conditions having barely changed from the night before, was a welcome boon for many still-irate Lancashire members. On a heavily cracked pitch, batting did not prove easy, however, with bounce and seam movement evident throughout a day curtailed by afternoon rain.
Sussex, who find themselves in the relegation zone, also wanted to bat first, but this was not a bad toss to lose. They bowled well throughout, giving little to hit, and will hope to establish a first-innings lead.
Had Mal Loye, who battled his way to a determined fifty, not been dropped in the slips when on seven, Lancashire would have been in real trouble. Fortunately for Sussex, he gave away his wicket by way of an uncharacteristic leg-side mow at Ollie Rayner, the ball ending up in point’s hands.
Equally gratifying for Sussex was that they took a wicket with what proved the last ball before the players were forced off. Mark Chilton, the former Lancashire captain who had grafted hard for his 26 from 91 balls, became the third batsman to be caught in the slips, giving Dwayne Smith a deserved second victim.
The Barbadian had been the pick of the bowlers, extracting movement from a nagging fourth-stump line. Importantly, he had brought one back off the seam to have V.V.S. Laxman leg-before just before lunch.
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Robin Martin-Jenkins had also played his part with an accurate 11-over opening spell from the the end that contained Tuesday night’s problematic damp patch. Once he came off, Sussex employed nothing but spin from that end, but there was little turn to speak of.
Piyush Chawla, whose return was made possible by Yasir Arafat’s departure home to Pakistan, may yet ask questions, but he was played with relative ease yesterday.
Lancashire: First Innings
P J Horton c Yardy b Collymore 6
†L D Sutton c Rayner b Martin-Jenkins 17
M B Loye c Chawla b Rayner 58
V V S Laxman lbw b Smith 6
M J Chilton c Yardy b Smith 26
F du Plessis not out 10
Extras (b 1, lb 3, nb 4) 8
Total (5 wkts, 56.1 overs) 131
O J Newby, *G Chapple, S I Mahmood, G Keedy and K W Hogg to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-50, 3-71, 4-105, 5-131.
Bowling: Collymore 12-4-26-1; Martin-Jenkins 11-2-34-1; Smith 13.1-5-29-2; Chawla 13-5-30-0; Rayner 7-1-8-1.
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Sussex: *M H Yardy, J S Gatting, E C Joyce, M W Goodwin, C D Hopkinson, D R Smith, †A J Hodd, R S C Martin-Jenkins, O P Rayner, P P Chawla, C D Collymore.
Umpires: N A Mallender and D J Millns.