One new player brought joy while another caused anguish as the most keenly contested fixture of recent years was played out in post-Warne peace. Shane Bond marked his Hampshire debut with career-best figures of seven for 66, but at least as much attention focused on Ryan Harris, who was pulled out of the Sussex XI at the last moment.

The defending champions opted for a late alteration when they learnt that Harris, 28, from Adelaide, had agreed a three-year contract with Queensland that threatened his status as a non-overseas player. Sussex spent much of the day consulting lawyers and are considering whether to take legal action against the bowler.

His career with the county may have ended after a single promising appearance against MCC last week and if that debut is a guide, then the loss of his sturdy seam bowling will be a significant blow to their attempt to complete a first hat-trick of titles since Yorkshire won a third championship in a row in 1968.

Sussex will try to discover the basis on which Harris has recommitted to the country of his birth. If he intends to play as an Australian - as they believe is the case - then he cannot continue in a nonoverseas role. He received clearance from the ECB on that basis through a British passport on his father’s side.

In a statement issued in the late afternoon, Sussex naively described the deal with Queensland as media speculation. This “speculation” included Harris, whose South Australia contract had expired, being quoted in the Australian press as saying: “I am genuinely excited about the prospects ahead with the [Queensland] Bulls.”

Gus Mackay, the Sussex chief executive, said: “He was registered based on qualifying through a British passport and meeting ECB regulations. Naturally it is disappointing that he was withdrawn minutes before the start of play. We are working with the relevant authorities and their lawyers in the hope of resolving the situation.”

Harris and Bond had been granted ECB permission to play on the same day and Hampshire were pleasantly surprised when the former New Zealand bowler, whose Test career ended when he joined the rebel Indian Cricket League, was passed by the registration committee. He repaid them here with emphatic fast bowling.

A slow pitch is little handicap to a full length and, once he got his line right with the second new ball, Bond ripped through the lower half of the Sussex innings. Pace undid a succession of new batsmen in a spell of five wickets for as many runs in 17 balls that changed the course of a day hitherto edged by Sussex.

Chris Nash and Mike Yardy laid a foundation and Murray Goodwin provided the backbone as Chris Adams and Matt Prior peppered a short boundary. Goodwin, too, prospered through the off side in completing the 53rd hundred of his career, from 144 balls, before perishing in pursuit of quick runs.

Dimitri Mascarenhas found leadership a challenge despite swing in the early morning as a good-sized crowd huddled against a spring chill. The new Hampshire captain has brought forward his short stint in the Indian Premier League, a compromise that works well for both Hampshire and Rajasthan Royals.

Scoreboard

Sussex: First Innings

C D Nash c Adams b Tomlinson 47
C D Hopkinson b Bond 7
M H Yardy c Tremlett b Bond 46
M W Goodwin c Pothas b Tremlett 121
*C J Adams c Pothas b Tomlinson 30
†M J Prior lbw b Bond 62
L J Wright c Lumb b Bond 0
R S C Martin-Jenkins lbw b Bond 1
R G Aga b Bond 0
C J Liddle not out 4
Mushtaq Ahmed lbw b Bond 1
Extras (b 5, lb 3, w 1, nb 4) 13

Total (88.1 overs) 332

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-93, 3-110, 4-201, 5-317, 6-317, 7-319, 8-321, 9-331.

Bowling: Bond 19.1-2-66-7; Tremlett 19-2-59-1; Mascarenhas 16-1-62-0; Tomlinson 17-5-67-2; Lamb 12-0-52-0; Adams 5-1-18-0.

Hampshire: First Innings

M A Carberry lbw b Martin-Jenkins 2
M J Brown not out 0
J A Tomlinson not out 2
Total (1 wkt, 5 overs) 4

J H K Adams, J P Crawley, M J Lumb, †N Pothas, G A Lamb, *A D Mascarenhas, C T Tremlett and S E Bond to bat.

Fall of wicket: 1-2.

Bowling: Martin-Jenkins 3-1-3-1; Liddle 2-1-1-0.

Umpires: N G Cowley and J F Steele.