IN HIS boyhood, Richard Montgomerie treasured his first cricket bat so highly that he refused to tap it on wet ground for fear the toe-end would swell up and split.

As a result, the young right-hander took to the habit of slapping the side of his right foot with the blade of his bat as he prepared to face a ball.

Now 35, the Sussex batsman has no doubt used hundreds of bats since, but his foot-slapping idiosyncrasy became little more than an annoyance to Kent's bowlers in Hove on Thursday, where Montgomerie batted all day for an unbeaten 174.

It was an innings that will remain in the memory only because of its longevity, there were barely a handful of rousing shots throughout his stay, yet it was an innings that has helped put his side firmly in control of the game.

At the mid-way point of this opening LV Championship game of the campaign, Sussex, having reached 465 for seven and a lead of 249, will look to force home their advantage in the last two days leaving Kent with no option other than a sustained rearguard action if they are to gleam anything from their first away trip this summer.

For one brief moment in the first session it appeared as though Kent might fight their way back into contention when Simon Cook sent back dangermen Murray Goodwin and Chris Adams in the space of three balls.

With his first delivery of the day, a loosener from the Cromwell Road End, Cook enticed Goodwin (23) to chip a return catch then, two balls later, Adams followed and nicked a leg-cutter to be caught behind by Geraint Jones.

Sussex still trailed by 21 at that point but no one could dislodge Monty, the Sussex beneficiary for 2007, as he extended his innings to nine hours 20 minutes to bat Kent out of the game.

There were other successes for Kent; Robbie Joseph accounted for Chris Nash (50) leg before and then Luke Wright (7) who chipped one to mid-on.

Then, just after lunch, Darren Stevens snared the hard-hitting Matt Prior (14) lbw, but that merely served to bring in Rana Naved to change the character of the day and the course of the game.

The Pakistan all-rounder no doubt had a point to prove. He was facing his countryman Yasir Arafat, the man who replaced him here at Hove last summer, and having already been out-bowled on the opening day of the game by another Pakistan star, Mushtaq Ahmed.

So Naved simply let his bat do the talking. He took a liking to Min Patel, lofting three of the left-arm spinner's flighted deliveries for six in a stunning 84-ball innings worth 75 that also included 10 fours.

He and Montgomerie added 117 in 31 overs, a Sussex seventh-wicket record against Kent, and left Kent with a mountain to climb.

His fun ended when Stevens, with his fourth ball after tea, enticed Naved to slice an attempted extra-cover drive to backward point where Ryan McLaren held a well-judged, over the shoulder catch on the run.

Sadly for Kent, it proved their final breakthrough of the day as James Kirtley (51) then teamed up with Montgomerie to add 94 in 30 overs and see the hosts through to stumps in fine fettle.

Afterwards, Sussex coach Mark Robinson said: "It is a wicket to suit openers and tail-enders really. Yes, it is a true pitch, but it's also a bit slow which, together with a soft ball and slow, lush outfield, makes for attritional cricket.

"It was ideal for Monty though, because he could just anchor the innings and allow Rana and James to play around him."

SCORECARD

Kent first innings

J L Denly c Montgomerie b Mushtaq Ahmed 37
R W T Key lbw b Lewry 6
M van Jaarsveld lbw b Lewry 0
M J Walker c Prior b Kirtley 21
D I Stevens c Kirtley b Naved-ul-Hasan 35
G O Jones b Mushtaq Ahmed 2
Yasir Arafat lbw b Mushtaq Ahmed 33
R McLaren st Prior b Ahmed 44
S J Cook b Mushtaq Ahmed 3
M M Patel st Prior b Ahmed 15
R H Joseph not out 11
Extras 9

Total 216 all out after 59.3 overs

Fall of wicket: 1-26, 2-26, 3-57, 4-73, 5-76, 6-132, 7-150, 8-153, 9-181.

Bowling: Naved 16-2-64-1, Lewry 8-4-23-2, Mushtaq 21.3-2-74-6, Kirtley 14-2-46-1.

Sussex first innings

C D Hopkinson c Cook b Joseph 13
R R Montgomerie not out 174
C D Nash lbw b Joseph 50
M W Goodwin c&b Cook 23
C J Adams c Jones b Cook 0
M J Prior lbw b Stevens 14
L J Wright c Patel b Joseph 7
Rana Naved c McLaren b Stevens 75
R J Kirtley not out 51
Extras 58

Total 465 for seven after 148 overs

Fall of wicket: 1-26, 2-159, 3-195, 4-195, 5-232, 6-254, 7-371,

Bowling: Joseph 22-2-78-3, McLaren 24-6-69-0, Arafat 24-4-85-0, Cook 23-5-61-2, Stevens 24-5-42-2, Patel 25-4-90-0, Denly 6-3-17-0.

Kent won the toss and elected to bat.

* Mark Pennell's third day report will appear here at the close of play this evening.