County Championship: Coles steals Smith limelight as Sussex dominate Glamorgan

James Coles' previous best score was 74

A sparkling maiden century from Sussex teenager James Coles stole the limelight from Australia batter Steve Smith as they piled up a lead of 358 over Glamorgan.

Coles hit 138 and Smith a near-faultless 89 in his preparation for the Ashes.

Fynn Hudson-Prentice belted 73 as Sussex made a formidable 481.

Glamorgan reached 118-1 in their second innings with Eddie Byrom making 57, facing a long battle to avoid defeat.

A second battle between England paceman Ollie Robinson and Marnus Labuschagne saw Glamorgan's Australian star thoroughly tested before reaching the close on 15 not out.

The day was watched by a healthy crowd, including 1,000 school children who enjoyed watching Smith bat.

Smith played out 17 dot balls off compatriot Michael Neser before getting his first run off the quick bowler, and then edged him to slip where Timm van der Gugten, making a rare appearance in the cordon, could not quite scoop up a ball which seemed to reach him on the half-volley.

There was no sign of Smith developing any 'Baz-ball' tendencies ahead of the Ashes, with any flourishes coming from Coles at the other end until Smith smashed a cover-drive off James Harris for four to bring up the batting point.

He pulled Harris for a magnificent six over square leg, but fell shortly afterwards lbw as he was squared up by a full length delivery that kept a touch low.

That left Coles to relish the spotlight with strong forcing shots on both sides of the wickets as he latched on to anything loose.

Sussex cruised to four batting points as Coles sped along merrily in the afternoon sunshine against a flagging attack, finishing with 21 boundaries before Harris won another leg-before verdict.

The flourish of runs continued as Hudson-Prentice walloped away at more than a run a ball, Glamorgan not helping their cause with some ragged fielding and three dropped chances.

Skipper Kiran Carlson claimed a couple of cheap wickets at the end and Robinson bludgeoned three fours in a Michael Neser over before holing out.

Left a full session to bat, Zain Ul Hassan and Byrom gave Glamorgan a better start second time round with Byrom smashing Hudson-Prentice for two legside sixes.

He then had an unusual reprieve on 37 when given out caught behind off Robinson, only for square-leg umpire Rob White to rule that Oli Carter had not completed the catch cleanly.

Byrom hit a third six to reach his half-century, but pulled Robinson to square-leg where Jack Carson took a smart leaping catch.

A second enthralling confrontation between Robinson and Labuschagne brought international quality to a division two encounter in the evening session, while debutant Ul Hassan made a quiet but effective contribution at the other end to reach 40 not out overnight.

Sussex all-rounder James Coles told BBC Radio Sussex:

"I'm still trying to get my head around it, but I've been building up to something over the past few weeks and thrown it away a bit, so it's nice to get over the line this time, definitely a memorable day.

"I am feeling good at the crease so you've just got to cash in when you can and hopefully it keeps continuing. It was amazing, at the start of the day it looked like around three thousand people here and it was one of the best atmospheres, at the end when Ollie was bowling to Marnus it was something we haven't experienced before for a Championship game.

"Growing up I always wanted to do something like this (batting with Steve Smith), so I was really grateful I got the opportunity to do so and I learned some invaluable things off him.

"He says 'keep watching hard' a lot, every over, but he keeps it simple and he's a nice guy. He's been amazing around the group, giving us confidence."

Glamorgan batter Eddie Byrom told BBC Sport Wales:

"We're still behind in the game but we put in a solid session to give ourselves a chance going into tomorrow, the goal is to get ourselves as big a lead as possible since the pitch is looking quite placid at the moment and we've got a long batting line-up.

"You don't want to dig yourself a hole (facing a big deficit), you have to be positive and look to get a lead otherwise you can feel like sitting ducks.

"I was walking off (when first given out), I didn't look behind to see the catch but the umpires asked me to hold on. I think they thought Carter tried to celebrate and didn't hold onto the ball for long enough, it's not my decision.

"It was a great battle between Marnus and Ollie, two of the best going at it and it's great to have that in the championship with a big crowd in, watching some really skilled individuals."