At 10:00 am when the captains went out to the middle to toss, the weather was overcast and a little muggy. Robin Smith chose correctly and taking the conditions into account decided to bat. By 10:30 am, the clouds had cleared and the sun shone brightly. At 399-3, Robin now wonders why the gods have it in for him.

Hampshire welcomed back Alan Mullally and Nic Pothas after injury, and gave a Hampshire first class debut to Jimmy Adams.

To be fair to the Sussex weather, the Hampshire bowlers did not bowl very well in the morning session, and Zimbabwean Murray Goodwin and Richard Montgomerie took advantage of that and the improved conditions.

Goodwin in particular was in top form, taking advantage of the short boundary at the members side he pulled and cut his way to a century just after lunch before finally Dimitri Mascarenhas caught him lbw.

Montgomerie who was battling against a bad run of form, scratched around at the start, but he was there at the end 168 not out, his confidence improved especially after his century, striking 9 fours in a row.

Tony Cottey sayed with Montgomerie for a 71 run partnership, before he edged Johnson to wicket-keeper Pothas, he was given out after the umpires consulted over whether the ball carried.

The Hampshire bowlers toiled, but got their third wicket (and their first bonus point) when the dangerous looking Chris Adams was superbly caught by Shaun Udal off his own bowling.

All in all a bad day at the office for Hampshire, and puts them even more unlikely to avoid the relegation bottom three.

© Hampshire Cricket