Sussex last night defended their decision to put Glamorgan into bat after home openers Steve James and Matthew Elliott carted them all over Colwyn Bay.

The pair put on 384, the second highest partnership for any Glamorgan wicket, in 81 overs and by the close had helped their side to 457-1 with James 193 not out, a formidable position after the first day of the crucial second division contest.

Both captains wanted to bowl first and exploit a pitch which appeared to have plenty of moisture, but it wasn't long before Sussex's Chris Adams was regretting his decision to call heads instead of tails and pitch inspector David Hughes was pointing his car in the direction of home.

Coach Peter Moores said: "Some days you just have to hold your hands up and say that the opposition have batted really well. Both are Test players and are one of the best opening pairs in the country and today they showed it.

"There was a bit of moisture under the surface at the start, but they adopted a very positive approach and went for their shots. The wicket then flattened out and hardly a ball beat the bat or swung all day."

A big crowd watched Elliott and James pepper the short boundaries regularly in a high-quality batting display that even the 50 or so Sussex supporters who have headed to north Wales could not help but admire.

It has been a long time since Mark Robinson, normally the most economical of bowlers, was hit for three sixes in one over but Elliott meted out that punishment within an hour of the start as the pair set the tone for the day by scoring 167 runs in the opening session.

As their serene progress continued into a hot afternoon, so Glamorgan records scattered like leaves in the breeze: the highest stand on the ground, the highest opening partnership against Sussex and, when Elliott, reached 171, the highest individual score by a Glamorgan batsman against Sussex.

James beat his partner to his hundred by one over, the 200 stand came up in the 60th over and the next 50 were added in just eight more overs. If anything, Sussex bowled much tighter lines in the afternoon session, but Elliott and James still plundered 159 runs as anything wide or short was ruthlessly dispatched.

When Elliott took a single off debutant Michael Yardy to take his side to 331 it broke the previous first wicket county record set by Roy Fredericks and Alan Jones in 1972. If it's any consolation, Glamorgan lost that match.

Both looked odds-on for double hundreds, but on 177 Elliott aimed an expansive off side drive at James Kirtley and played on, having batted for just over five hours, faced 234 balls and hit 15 fours and seven sixes, all of them sweetly-timed leg side pick-ups which sailed into the houses adjoining the picturesque Penrhyn Avenue ground.

Michael Powell came in to enjoy the fun, striking three boundaries in one over off Robin Martin-Jenkins as he unfurled some off side strokes every bit as good as those played by his Australian team-mate.

And all the while James sailed on. His 42nd first-class century was also his third against Sussex and by the close he was seven runs short of converting it into his fifth double hundred and another Glamorgan record, having so far faced 318 balls and hit 24 boundaries.

At some stage later today Sussex will have to bat and a flat surface such as this should hold few terrors for them. How their new-look line-up, with Yardy and Will House both included, perform will go a long way to determining the outcome of this match and their season as a whole.