Steven Finn rolled back the years on his Sussex debut, picking up three wickets including England hopeful Haseeb Hameed for five, to leave their match against Nottinghamshire nicely poised.
In only his sixth LV County Championship match since June 2019, the former England seamer removed Hameed and Joe Clarke in a superb new-ball spell of two for 19 from seven overs as Nottinghamshire slumped to 52 for four replying to 375 from Sussex, which included a maiden hundred by Tom Clark.
Finn returned after tea to end a fifth wicket stand of 108 between Lyndon James (63) and Steven Mullaney, but Mullaney was 79 not out at stumps with Nottinghamshire 214 for five, trailing by 161.
Four days after his 33rd birthday Finn, who only played two four-day games last season and none at all in 2020, showed he’s still got a lot to offer with a red ball in his hand.
Hameed is desperate for early-season runs after a disappointing Ashes series but had faced just 14 balls when Finn found some extra bounce a seam movement to defeat his tentative prod. He then dragged Clarke forward and found the edge.
It was Finn’s new-ball partner Henry Crocombe who had made the breakthrough with his second ball, which Ben Slater dragged on to his off stump.
Nottinghamshire were in trouble when Ben Duckett, whose 31 included a pulled six off Crocombe, drove loosely at Jamie Atkins and Tom Alsop clung on to a stinging low catch at slip.
But all-rounder James and his captain counter-attacked either side of tea with James hitting nine crisp fours while Mullaney twice cleared the short leg-side boundary. James was on 63 when he top-edged a pull and wicketkeeper Oli Carter ran 25 yards to get under a steepling catch and give Finn his third wicket.
Sussex’s hopes of a sizeable first-innings lead could depend on removing Mullaney early on day three. He has added an unbeaten 54 with Tom Moores for the sixth wicket.
Earlier, Clark was dismissed two balls after reaching his hundred before Sussex were bowled out on the stroke of lunch.
It was an outstanding effort by the 20-year-old left-hander, who demonstrated solid judgment outside his off stump as he defied an accurate attack for 14 minutes shy of four hours.
Although it was still bitingly cold, the wind had eased, and bowling was much easier for the seamers than it had been on the first day. In the first hour Clark and Archie Lenham made steady progress to add 31 runs having resumed on 302 for six.
Clark reached his hundred with a quick single into the offside off left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White before acknowledging a standing ovation from the home crowd. However, he played on to James’s medium pace in the next over, a tame end to a fine innings.
Finn missed a sweep while Lenham played nicely for his 24 and it took a superb diving catch on the long leg boundary by Slater to remove him and give the persevering Luke Fletcher a deserved wicket.
Patterson-White had the second five-wicket haul of his career when he pinned Crocombe and finished with five for 84 from 45.1 overs.
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Sussex batsman Tom Clark, who made his maiden first-class hundred, said: “I was on 99 long enough so it was a big relief to get to the hundred, especially in the first game of the season.
“Cricket’s a funny game and you have doubts that you can get that big score so it was a brilliant moment. In the past I have played well in small periods, got 20s or 30s and the odd fifty, then made a silly mistake. I know if I face 175 to 200 balls I will make big contributions to the team.
“It’s been about keeping things simple, breaking it down ball by ball and not over-thinking. I’ve got a template now – something to work on – and I’m hungry to do it again.”
Nottinghamshire all-rounder Lyndon James, who made 63, said: “I think the game is quite evenly poised. Steve Finn bowled nicely. He gets a fair bit of bounce, so you always feel you have to play and it’s hard to get at him, and it led to my demise although I felt pretty good with the bat.
“There’s not a great deal of lateral movement for the seamers but when it got overcast it did zip around a bit more. Ideally, we would have been four down tonight, but Steven Mullaney and Tom Moores have put on a great partnership and the first half-hour tomorrow is going to be crucial. If we can get through that unscathed we can creep towards Sussex’s score.”
