It was nowhere near the cricketing mis-match going on in Barbados but Sussex's bowlers had to work hard for their rewards at Lord's on the opening day of the new season.

Alistair Cook, who has played in all of these MCC versus champion county fixtures since it was revived in 2004, scored a chanceless 142 out of 332-6 but Sussex supporters should not start thinking the wheels have come off before the Championship defence has begun.

Only six members of the team will definitely line up against Kent next Wednesday. Sussex already knew that they would be without four first-choices. Skipper Chris Adams became a father for the first time on Thursday when wife Sam gave birth to Molly, their third daughter.

Richard Montgomerie pulled out for personal reasons, Saqlain Mushtaq was ineligible and Rana Naved is due to arrive from Pakistan today and will link-up with the squad this weekend.

Then Mushtaq Ahmed, who was due to play, opted instead to spend the next four days bowling in the nets and working on his fitness.

Jason Lewry has only just returned after missing much of pre-season because of a debilitating virus. The sight of him bowling on the Nursery Ground and looking like his old self would have pleased the large contingent of Sussex supporters watching.

Sussex could have done with their experience on the pitch. Their attack includes only two capped players and it was perhaps significant that James Kirtley and Robin Martin-Jenkins caused MCC's batsmen most difficulty.

The pitch was predictably slow with an early-season tinge of green but it played pretty well and a 60 yard boundary on the Grandstand side gave bowlers little margin for error.

Chris Liddle, making his first appearance at headquarters, discovered that to his cost. He bowled well in tandem with Kirtley with the new ball, but tended to bowl too short too often. A touch of nerves on his Sussex debut and operating up the Lord's slope could have been factors.

Kirtley was unfortunate to only pick up one wicket with the new ball when he got his fifth delivery to do just enough off the seam and Nick Compton edged to second slip.

He conceded just 15 in his first nine overs which included four maidens. Kirtley took just 16 wickets last season as he got to grips with his re-modelled action but this was encouraging evidence that he is ready to play a much bigger role this season.

If there was one criticism, particularly against Cook, it was that Sussex did not get the left-hander playing forward enough.

After playing himself in, Cook took three fours off Luke Wright's first over and from then on he looked to be in total control, even though it took him 95 balls to go from 50 to his 13th first-class hundred after reaching his half-century from just 66 deliveries.

He added 132 in 41 overs with Owais Shah who seemed to be settling in for a long vigil of his own when Kirtley drew him forward in his post-lunch spell.

There was no stopping Cook, however. Despite scoring a hundred at Perth in the third Test, he had a disappointing Ashes so to start the new season as well as this will be a huge confidence boost.

Cook added 115 for the third wicket with Alex Loudon before the Warwickshire man played across the line and gave Martin-Jenkins a deserved success.

Wright has worked hard on his action this winter to try and get more lateral movement. It remains something of a work in progress and his first five overs went for 35 but Wright has always been a wicket-taker and after tea he ran in hard and struck in successive overs.

Cook, who lofted Ollie Rayner over mid-wicket for six to go with his 18 fours, aimed a tired drive outside off stump at his 225th ball and Zohab Sharif, who played second-team cricket for Sussex last season, was caught at point off a leading edge when Wright dug one in short of a length.

MCC had lost three wickets for 13 runs but they regrouped through Steven Davies and Alex Gidman who added 61 in 14 overs before Martin-Jenkins struck with the new ball when Davies pushed forward and Matt Prior, who had a good day behind the stumps, snaffled his third catch.

Now tell us how you think Sussex will fare this season.