Gavin Hamilton went through a recurring nightmare at Headingley yesterday as Yorkshire had another shocker on the opening day of their Frizzell Championship match against Sussex.

Poor bowling allowed Sussex to recover from 70 for four to 375 for six by the close after being put in to bat, leaving the visitors far more likely than Yorkshire to go on to register their first win of the season. Sussex were thrust into a position of supremacy by a record 191 stand for the sixth wicket between Tim Ambrose (146 no) and Matt Prior (83) who both plundered their career-best scores.

But before they came together, Yorkshire were already a bowler light because Hamilton had to be withdrawn from the attack after his solitary over had contained 12 balls which cost him 17 runs.

It was Hamilton's first match back after trying to recover in the second team from a severe loss of form and confidence. But as soon as he began with a no-ball it became clear that he had not got rid of his problems.

Hamilton then let go five wides, one of which was so far down the legside that it evaded wicketkeeper Richard Blakey and went to the boundary.

It was a repeat of what happened to Hamilton in the season's opener against Bradford-Leeds Universities' Centre of Excellence when he sent down a similar 12-ball over packed with wides and no-balls.

Yorkshire's gamble of risking Hamilton instead of playing off-spinner Richard Dawson had failed to pay off in a big way and with Craig White only operating at half pace this season the attack began to look paper thin.

At 193 for five, Blakey called up Simon Katich to see if his left-arm spin could produce results but the Australian, in his first Championship match while standing in for Darren Lehmann, was so untidy that two overs cost him 25 runs.

Steve Kirby trapped Richard Montgomerie lbw in his first over and Chris Silverwood produced two good deliveries in an otherwise erratic opening spell to get rid of Mike Yardy and Murray Goodwin.

With Tony Cottey and Robin Martin-Jenkins falling to Sidebottom and Kirby, Sussex were struggling on 121 for five but Ambrose and Prior quickly exposed the limitations of Yorkshire's bowling with some sparkling strokes.

Ambrose, 19, from Australia, and South African-born Prior, just one year his senior, barely gave even half a chance as they posted Sussex's biggest ever partnership for the sixth wicket against Yorkshire, beating the 179 made exactly 100 years ago at Hove by W Newham and G Brann.

The partnership was ended by White who had Prior caught behind for 83 off 141 balls .

By then Ambrose had completed his maiden century, partnered to the close by Kevin Innes in an unbroken seven-wicket stand of 63 as Yorkshire soaked up punishment right to the bitter end