Tom Clark stars as young Sussex take up the gauntlet against Notts

As though aware of the import of the day, Hove looked at its loveliest this morning. And as though similarly attuned to occasion, the cricketers put aside the chilly conditions and offered us fine sport; well-contested stuff it was, too, and comforting for Sussex supporters who might have feared for their young side when facing the Division Two favourites. But instead of Steven Mullaney's bowlers bullying the team their skipper had inserted, they were compelled to work for their wickets. Three Sussex batsmen made half-centuries and Delray Rawlins was one run shy of becoming the fourth when he bottom-edged a cut off Mullaney into his stumps an over before the close.

By then, though, Tom Clark's patient, career-best 82 not out had seen his side past 300 and only Liam Patterson-White - three wickets, a catch and a run-out, if you please - had made it probable that the visitors will not face another long session or two in the field. It was all far better than the locals had expected when they greeted each other with warm handshakes and good fellowship at the start of the day. It little mattered in those moments that music blared out during warm-ups or that today's cricketers own gadgets their predecessors would not recognise. The first day of the season binds them with the invisible braid of hope and optimism. It bound us all this blissful morning.

There were hugs, too, and one barely noticed them until one remembered that a year ago such intimacies were thought dangerous. Indeed, this was the first summer since 2019 when spectators could turn up at Hove and watch the season begin. Twelve months ago Sussex supporters watched from the balconies of the houses in Palmeira Road and greeted journalists below in the daftest Romeo and Juliet parody you will ever see.

This morning there was merely gentle applause when Ali Orr scored Sussex's first run and much greater enthusiasm when Tom Haines eased Brett Hutton to the square-leg boundary before flourishing a drive past point in the same over. After eight overs Sussex were 32 without loss and runs continued to come at a brisk clip. Haines continued to be particularly hard on Hutton, who bowled too full on the leg side and too wide on the off. The home side's fifty came up in the 15th over and by then Haines was in the 40s. His fellow opener had scored more slowly but Orr's innings was accustomed and patient, its tempo pleasing. In the second hour of the morning the balance changed as Haines was tied down by Patterson-White's slow left-arm and Fletcher's second spell. When the players came in for lunch - Sussex supporters probably thought it a feast - Haines was unbeaten on 55 and Orr had 41.

The small familiar things about Hove gave pleasure, too. Like Catholics on a day of obligation, the blue-and-white-striped deckchairs were in their appointed place, though they had had few occupants on a morning when a ruthless wind gusted between villas and flats before bending flagpoles and disrupting run-ups. And at least conditions had improved since the previous afternoon when rain strafed the promenade, the sea frothed in grey ferment and two ladies' hats disappeared into Regency Square, their owners pursuing them with athleticism they hadn't managed since the summers when Alan Oakman's tentacles clutched catches at short-leg.

One or two of the multi-layered loyalists in the members' enclosures may have seen Oakman burgle quarter-chances and they settled down again for an afternoon in which the plain priority for the home side in was to capitalise on their morning's work. However, Patterson-White saw to it they could not do so. First he drifted a full-length ball on the flannel-fluttering breeze before turning it inside Haines's attempted drive and bowling the Sussex skipper for 59. Next over he had the Hampshire loanee Tom Alsop leg before wicket for a three-ball 1, although a defence brief would have contested height. Nothing troubled Orr, though, and nothing disturbed the neutrals, either. Wickets fell elsewhere but we lost track of them. For long moments our world contained only Hove and its gentle pageant. Even the mere awareness of other matches faded.

Nottinghamshire's cricketers also had a narrow focus and they were to gain more rewards before tea. First Oli Carter smacked a long-hop from Hutton straight to Patterson-White at midwicket and then the spinner tempted Orr into a loose drive that only edged a catch to Mullaney at slip. It says much about the opener's composure that the error was unexpected. Orr's batting seems uncomplicated by faff and one hopes his 68 was a happy portent for the season. He has now passed fifty six times in 15 first-class innings and his name is already inked on future team-sheets, especially given the early-season injuries afflicting his colleagues.

Indeed, head coach Ian Salisbury's problems when selecting a team for this game were exacerbated by the unavailability of six members of his squad: for example, Fynn Hudson-Prentice has a stress fracture; Cheteshwar Pujara doesn't have a visa; George Garton is recovering from long Covid; and Jack Carson from a knee operation. Nottinghamshire, by contrast, were able to select ten of the side that began last year's opener against Durham and this game was seen in a few quarters as something of a mismatch. Only English cricket could split the counties into two divisions and then begin the season with the side that nearly won the title taking on the side that finished bottom of the pile. If you had offered Salisbury a tea score of 189 for 4 after being inserted, he would surely have snapped it up.

If anything, the final session of the day only emphasised Sussex's resilience. Fletcher, who rarely finds it easy to bowl down the hill here, was repeatedly driven through the covers by Clark, who reached a fine fifty when he stroked Evison through mid-off. A chaotic run-out saw Dan Ibrahim go for 15 but Rawlins made certain that one breakthrough brought nothing but more hard work for the bowlers. While his departure was a fillip for Mullaney, the Nottinghamshire skipper had plenty to ponder as the players departed the field and Hove was left in the singing-light of this first evening in a fresh world.