Jordan Thompson described a “tough day” for Yorkshire at the start of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Sussex at Emerald Headingley.
Sussex were reduced to 68-4 shortly after lunch, only for them to recover and close on 267-5.
Captain Ben Brown scored an excellent 126 not out, his third career Championship century in 13 innings against Yorkshire.
Thompson took three of the five wickets to fall, although was not particularly enamoured with his own performance.
“It’s been a tough day for us,” he said. “We got a couple of early wickets, as we expected, but it’s a nice surface and the sideways movement probably isn’t as quick as usual.
“Hopefully we can roll them out in the morning and get out there ourselves and put a big score on.
“We pride ourselves on keeping it dry if we’re not taking wickets, which we did before lunch. But, looking at it honestly, we probably let them get away a bit in the middle session.
“From my point of view, Brown batted really well, but it felt like he didn’t have to get out of gear one or two and take us on. There were a few boundary balls to get him going.
“In the morning, we have to dry it up again and build pressure.
“My three-over spell (with the new ball late in the day) was wasted. I just got it wrong and didn’t build the pressure.
“But we can’t look back on it. We have to look forwards. And tomorrow is going to be an important morning.”
The opening day ended with an excellent unbeaten 37 from Sussex debutant Dan Ibrahim, the 16-year-old all-rounder who is the second youngest player to represent his county.
Thompson added: “He played well and looked comfortable. But did we put enough pressure on him early doors? Probably not.”
A crowd of 2,056 watched Yorkshire’s first team at Headingley for the first time in 623 days, and Sussex centurion and wicketkeeper Brown had some nice words to say at close.
“I love playing here,” he said. “I said that to all the boys before the game.
“I think you get responsive crowds. They clap maidens, they clap the opposition players if we play well.
“It’s a fantastic ground. I haven’t been here for a few years, but it looks pretty special.
“I said last week that batting in front of a crowd makes a massive difference to my game. It’s just getting that natural tempo back. I was really appreciative of seeing a crowd in today.”
