Surrey lose their bearings as Sussex's TomToms drive the agenda

Into the third round of Surrey's putative tilt at a fourth consecutive County Championship title and it is clear they are not going to have it all their way. After opening with two draws - behind the game against Essex at Chelmsford, ahead but unable to finish the job against Hampshire - they were stuck into the field at Hove and subjected to some seaside roistering by the early pacesetters in Division One.

Surrey had not played a Championship fixture at Sussex's HQ since 2010, when Gareth Batty was just starting his second spell on the playing staff. The primary reason for that hiatus was Sussex's lengthy internment in Division Two, but they have hit the ground running on their return to the top tier - and were off at a canter on the first morning of this match, the scoreboard rattling at almost six an over before Surrey managed to pull things back.

When the players were taken off by the early arrival of forecast squally showers shortly before tea, Sussex were still handsomely placed, Tom Haines closing in on a second hundred is as many innings as he and Tom Alsop assembled an unbroken century stand in the face of some hostile bowling from Surrey's seam attack. As Rory Burns stalked from the field, having been deep in discussions with the umpires - seemingly about his bowlers' tactics - it was clear which side would have been happier with the opening skirmishes.

After a lengthy delay during which the entire square was covered in the expectation of further rain, it was eventually decided that play could resume at 5.40pm - only for the officials to then deem that the light was too bad after 11 balls had been bowled. There was to be no improvement, despite a trenchant cry of "Get on with it!" from the stands.

It may be that the weather dictates the prospects of this game delivering a positive result for either side, but Sussex, having taken 35 points from their opening two fixtures to sit joint top alongside Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire, will be looking to land a few more punches on the champions before the Bank Holiday weekend is out.

The players had been given a minor serve by Sussex's head coach, Paul Farbrace, after a sloppy finish to their 260-run win over Somerset in the previous fixture, but they made a purposeful start after winning the toss here, Haines and his opening partner Daniel Hughes taking apart Surrey's vaunted pace quartet in conditions that offered little margin for error.

Gus Atkinson was making his first appearance of the season, as England look to manage his run into next month's Test against Zimbabwe, but was treated brusquely on the way to figures of 12-1-57-0 that included seven no-balls. He looked reasonably sharp and did hit Haines on the helmet during a spell of sustained short-pitched bowling, during which the opener also spooned a pull into the leg side that fell short of deep backward square; Haines buckled down to tough it out and went to his fifty with a more authoritative pull when Dan Worrall again tried to stick it up his jumper.

Worrall had been dispatched for five fours in his opening three-over spell by Hughes, who repeatedly snapped on to the drive during a 47-ball half-century that allowed Haines to bed in at the other end. Sussex had raised 50 within the first 10 overs and were cruising at 89 without loss after 16, with Surrey already shuffling through five different bowlers.

The combination of Matthew Fisher coming down the slope from the Cromwell Road End and Dan Lawrence purveying his twirly stuff from the other helped Surrey to get a handle on the scoring. Fisher gave Hughes a couple of uncomfortable moments with his probing line in the channel outside off, then stooped for an athletic two-handed take in his follow-through to end the Australian's sprightly innings. Lawrence then found a modicum of turn to trap Tom Clark on the crease playing across the line.

Sussex had a more than serviceable base at 126 for 2 at lunch, and set about plotting a course through the afternoon with their TomTom navigation system (with three Toms in the top four, it's a reliable set-up). Both Haines and Alsop had their difficulties against the short ball on an otherwise benign surface, with the latter lucky not to play the ball on when being sat down by a Worrall bouncer.

Surrey bowled better during the post-lunch exchanges, though Fisher was limited to a second spell that lasted a single over and could be seen stretching gingerly on the boundary thereafter. Lawrence, meanwhile, was convinced that he should have removed Haines on 61, when the left-hander played back to one that flicked him above the knee roll in front of off stump - but even a theatrical mid-pitch star jump was not enough to win a decision. Surrey are going to have to do it the hard way.