Sussex batter Tom Alsop, who made 95, reflected on day one against Yorkshire at Hove – and coming up just short of a century.
He said: “It’s been an ok day. Losing a couple fewer wickets would have been ideal. Tom Haines was a bit unlucky – I think he got a nick – and it was a shame he couldn’t carry on because he looked in really good touch.
“It will depend on how we do tomorrow, particularly in the morning, on how well we can say the first day has gone.
“Yorkshire would have bowled and we were thinking about that too because there is definitely more grass on the wicket than there was for the Durham game two weeks ago. The overheads swayed us to bat first.
“Getting out for 95 is disappointing but that’s part of the game. I was perhaps fortunate early on but it’s a good score to take forward.
“The wicket didn’t have as much pace and carry and when their bowlers put it in the right areas it was quite attritional at times and tough to score.
“There were periods when we were under pressure so patience was the key. But I thought (Oli) Carter and Fynn (Hudson-Prentice) were excellent at the end of the day for us.”
Yorkshire seamer Jordan Thompson said: “It was a very good pitch. There wasn’t much sideways movement and it was pretty slow to be fair – a nice batting day.
“From 124-4, maybe we could have capitalised on that and taken a few more wickets but, as the ball got older, it got easier to score.
“This ground’s known for quick scoring so we knew if we didn’t get it right, it would be tough to control.
“It was part of the plan to bowl on his hip to Ali Orr and get him caught at third slip off the back of his bat. No, it was a dog ball as I’d say! But that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“Fish (Matthew Fisher) came up the hill and struggled a bit after lunch. Lythy was going to go to Dom Bess but I said: ‘Look, bring me on and I’ll see if I can get a breakthrough before the ball gets a bit older.’
“Luckily, I got Pujara and kept it tight and created a few chances for a while. We know we can take wickets. It will be tough to take 20 wickets but we have the bowlers to do that.
“Look around the group. There’s plenty of skill and points of difference like Mickey Edwards coming in as a tall lad with a bit more bounce.
“Mickey’s fitted in really well. He’s a laid-back lad, a typical Aussie, but he loves getting in the battle. Today, even though he didn’t get his rewards, I thought he bowled well.
“His pace and bounce probably went against him with the ball skewing off to third and fine-leg. He could have had two or three wickets.”
