Monty Panesar edges the day for Sussex

Gloucestershire 286 for 9 v Sussex
Scorecard

Sussex's Monty Panesar marked his return to first-team action with three wickets before Chris Taylor led Gloucestershire's fightback on an even first day of their Championship Division Two tussle at Arundel.

Panesar was overlooked during Sussex's Friends Provident t20 campaign and kept himself ticking over instead by playing league cricket for Bexhill. But he relished the slow turn offered by a dry pitch at the Castle Ground to take three for 68 from 29 overs before Gloucestershire, led by former captain Taylor's 89, recovered from 142 for six to close the first day on 286 for 9.

The left-arm spinner was brought into the attack 75 minutes after the start and wheeled away in four productive spells. He briefly switched ends before lunch to claim his first victim and finish a promising innings by 19-year-old left-hander Chris Dent, who edged to slip.

After lunch he ended a patient vigil by opener Kadeer Ali, who sliced a drive to mid-on after making 58 in just over three hours, and Panesar claimed his third wicket when Jon Lewis (32) was bowled heaving across the line having added 73 in 17 overs for the seventh wicket with Taylor.

It was an important partnership, for Gloucestershire had looked in some trouble when the persevering Corey Collymore picked up two wickets in three balls. Skipper Alex Gidman and then James Franklin were both lbw stuck on the crease, Franklin falling for a duck. Like Panesar, Collymore has not played competitively since Sussex's last four-day game finished on June 7 but his control of line and length was exemplary.

Yasir Arafat was the ideal foil for Collymore as his skiddy pace proved difficult to master and he picked up two wickets. Opener Jon Batty fell in the fifth over, lbw to one which hurried on, and the Pakistani returned after lunch to bowl Hamish Marshall with an off-cutter.

Initially, it was not such a productive day for Robin Martin-Jenkins in his last Championship game before retirement. The all-rounder had Kadeer dropped at slip on 31 and a vociferous appeal for leg before against Dent from the next ball turned down. To add to his dismay, Dent struck the next three balls to the boundary - although Martin-Jenkins did return to take two wickets after tea.

Taylor produced the most impressive strokeplay of the day, particularly after tea, driving fluently against the seamers and using soft hands to manipulate Panesar and off-spinner Ollie Rayner into the gaps.

He looked on course for a hundred when he feathered a catch to wicketkeeper Matt Prior to give Martin-Jenkins his second wicket just before the close. Taylor's 89 came from 112 balls and included 12 fours as well as a six off Panesar, but no Gloucestershire batsman has yet scored a Championship hundred this season.