HUW TURBERVILL AT HOVE: Smith started the day on 68. He had a watchful first hour, showing the same diligence he had on the first day. He is fascinating to study. He has so much time. But he was ultimately outdone by a 19-year-old upstart
We all flocked to see Steve Smith's century, only for James Coles to score his maiden one instead.
Celebrating his new three-year deal, the 19-year-old from Oxfordshire looked a terrific prospect, making 138 to give Sussex a massive advantage over Glamorgan at the end of day two.
The youngest debutant for Sussex at 16 years and 157 days (against Surrey) he has been building up to it this season, with 74 at Gloucestershire and 70 at Leicestershire. He also bowls slow left-arm. Sussex fans are excited about him.
The hosts ended their first innings on 481, a whopping 358 runs ahead.
The Welsh county showed some fight in their second innings, and have a confident-looking Marnus Labuschagne at the crease, but they still trail by 244 runs.
Sussex and Glamorgan came into this match pushing for promotion: each with one win and four draws.
By the end of day two Glamorgan may have quoted Marlon Brando in The Contender: "We could've been contenders."
The pitch – quite grassy on day one – had flattened out considerably.
Smith started the day on 68. He had a watchful first hour, showing the same diligence he had on the first day. He is fascinating to study. He has so much time. He was beaten once outside off stump. He nodded to the bowler, then charted the trajectory of the ball with his hand. Is he related to Derek Randall?
Steve Smith could not convert his first Sussex fifty (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
When he pulled James Harris for six he looked nailed off on for a century to clock off at Hove in style.
It wasn't to be. Harris jagged one back. It kept low. Smith wondered if it had hit him outside the line as he trudged off for 89 to a rousing reception. Looking at the replay, I think I agree with him. He scored 122 runs at 40.67 for Sussex.
Some will say that this has given him a huge boost ahead of the Ashes. The jury is out.
Sussex fans will hope he has fallen in love with the place, as Cheteshwar Pujara has done, and return for longer next time.
Coles batted beautifully on the first evening. He carried on where he left off: a canon of crisp shots catapulting him to three figures.
He stands tall, looks assured, is strong square of the wicket, and his bat comes down with an elegant flourish.
Fynn Hudson-Prentice is also enjoying life. Parachuted into the game against Durham after the luckless George Garton suffered a concussion, he took four wickets that propelled Sussex to victory.
Zain-ul-Hassan remains unbeaten on 40 overnight (Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
Here he had fun with the bat, smashing 73 off 64 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. Highlights included reverse-sweeping Labuschagne for four and upper-cutting Harris over the rope. It was his seventh first-class half-century, but a century still eludes him.
Jack Carson looked handy with the bat again, while Ollie Robinson was inspired by a painful blow. Hit on the head by Michael Neser, he carted the Australian for three fours in revenge, only to perish going for a fourth.
Eddie Byrom was bullish as the visitors tried to make a better fist of things second time around. He pulled Hudson-Prentice for two sixes. There was a huge moment of controversy when Robinson thought he had him caught behind by Oli Carter. The take didn't look clean and square-leg umpire Rob White agreed that there was enough doubt. Robinson eventually persuaded him to play a poor short, however, a pull to square-leg and he was gone for 57. Robinson again looked fiery. When the players left the field Sussex coach Paul Farbrace appeared to have words with the umpires.
Labuschagne played a wondrously timed drive through mid-off for four, then smashed Carson for six over long-on.
Zain Ul-Hassan also played a promising knock on his first-class debut, and a maiden half-century is in his sights.
As long as there is Labuschagne, there's hope for Glamorgan, but it's a long road back from here.
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