Murray Goodwin played one of the best innings seen at Hove for years, but Sussex still came up short on day one of the Championship match against Somerset.

The Zimbabwean made 162 at nearly a run a ball, but apart from Richard Montgomerie and James Kirtley at either end of the innings the rest of the batting on a good pitch did not amount to a great deal.

At 217-2, Goodwin and Tony Cottey having put on 91, Sussex looked on course for a total in excess of 400 plus.

But wickets fell regularly after Cottey was caught behind off Richard Johnson.

Goodwin became one of four victims for the Cidermen's lively seamer Matt Bulbeck and in the end Sussex were grateful to pocket three batting points.

If Sussex are to establish themselves in the first division one of their aims has to be to make big totals on the better pitches they are going to encounter since winning promotion.

The surface provided by groundsman Derek Traill yesterday gave them just such an opportunity and a total of 337 was under-par. Somerset were 4-0 from three overs when bad light brought a close 20 minutes early.

The news of chairman Don Trangmar's sudden resignation may have been the main topic of discussion among a good-sized opening day crowd, but most of the spectators could scarcely believe what was happening on the pitch either as Goodwin threatened to bury the Somerset attack single-handedly under the weight of his attacking strokes.

The tone was set in the opening 20 minutes when Richard Johnson, leading Somerset's attack in the absence of Andrew Caddick, saw his first three overs disappear for 24 runs.

None of his team-mates fared much better as Goodwin drove through the line or rocked onto the back foot with equal relish to pepper the boundary boards and ruthlessly punish any indiscretion in line or length.

Forty-six of his first 50 runs came in boundaries, including a six pulled effortlessly over square off Johnson as he and Montgomerie put on 102 in 19 overs. Perhaps they had been instructed to get some practice in for the new 20 overs competition 12 months early.

Whatever the reason it made for great entertainment. Montgomerie departed for 37, caught at second slip off Steffan Jones pushing forward, but Goodwin continued on his merry way.

Even the loss of Chris Adams, who was bowled by Bulbeck playing round a straight one, failed to reign in Goodwin. He swatted the first ball after lunch from Bulbeck to the mid-wicket fence to move into the nineties and had registered his eighth century for the county ten minutes later.

Sussex had the 200 up in the 38th over, but then the balance of the first day tilted Somerset's way after that.

Johnson got his outswinger going from the sea end to have Cottey caught behind and Michael Yardy was pinned back in front of his stumps by Bulbeck.

Goodwin went past 150 with his 25th boundary but two overs later the Somerset man got his revenge when Goodwin was leg before to a ball that was not quite short enough to pull.

He departed to a standing ovation, having made his runs off 168 deliveries in less than four hours with 27 boundaries and two sixes, the second off Jones who later had to go off with a pulled hamstring. Until some last wicket defiance from Kirtley and Hutchison, the rest of the Sussex batting was something of a procession.

Martin-Jenkins had made 25 and looked reasonably settled when a top-edged pull off Michael Burns ended up being pouched at cover. Prior played on in Burns' next over, Mark Davis was leg before to Johnson only half forward and Lewry was bowled by Bulbeck in the next over.

That left Sussex 308-9 and although the last wicket pair could not quite guide their side to another batting point they at least showed what was possible by playing each ball on its merits.

Kirtley's batting so far this season has been a revelation. He made 34 in the second innings at the Oval on Sunday and followed it up with an unbeaten 36 which included a couple of textbook cover drives. Perhaps he has got his inspiration from watching the peerless Goodwin. Burns, who only got his chance because of Jones's injury, picked up his third wicket when he bowled Hutchison with the second new ball.

As the sea fret which had encouraged the bowlers first thing rolled back over the ground Somerset were left to face 12 overs in their reply.

Only three of them were bowled before bad light ended play and Somerset captain Jamie Cox, getting well forward to try and combat Lewry's swing, had to survived two loud lbw shouts from the left-armer before accepting the umpires' offer of bad light.