New boy Ali Orr began to live up to his billing with a smart maiden century for Hampshire as he led a positive batting day for his side against Durham in the Vitality County Championship.
Opening batsman Orr, who joined the county from boyhood club Sussex in the winter, made a skilful 126, his first Championship century since September 2022 and his fifth overall.
Spinner Callum Parkinson was the pick of Durham's attack - taking 3 for 110 - but Tom Prest's whirlwind 65 handed the day to the hosts, who finished on 336 for 4.
Orr was the latest high-profile player to leave Hove - following in the footsteps of Luke Wells, Ben Brown and George Garton - and his departure coincided with the departure of Chris Adams and Ian Gould from their posts on the cricket committee. It was said to be the latest illustration of the 'big' counties consuming the 'small' ones.
In the event, Hampshire have the best chance of ending their opening batting woes, while Sussex have barely felt the effects - they are top of Division Two despite having played a game less than the three teams behind them.
It wasn't a smooth start to life at the west end of the A27 for Orr, unsurprisingly given the mixture of hype and anger that marked his transfer.
He ran out his opening partner Fletcha Middleton in their first innings together, having scored the following: 10, 13, 4, 26, and 6. That innings was exactly what had been promised when he signed.
Orr saw off the new ball with little concern after captain James Vince opted to bat, and showed a business to rotate the strike early on.
Hampshire were without the ailing Mohammed Abbas - a blessing for Durham, as he dismissed them for their two lowest first-class scores in one afternoon when playing for Leicestershire in 2018. He was replaced by Felix Organ on what was expected to be a turning pitch.
Left-arm wrist spinner Parkinson got his first taste of that when he was bowled in the 18th over. With his third ball, he pulled a googly almost 18cm back to pin Middleton's middle stump.
But the breaking of a 48-run opening stand did not lead to a rush of spinning wickets. Instead, Orr found his rhythm against the pace of Matt Potts and the wildness of Peter Siddle to reach his maiden Hampshire half-century in 94 balls.
Nearly 60 per cent of his runs came down the leg-side, but that masked his real tactic of scampering for singles off the legs and scoring his boundaries pleasantly around the ground.
He added another 86 with Nick Gubbins - who never found his feet on his 31 - before scooping Parkinson straight to Ollie Robinson.
Orr was stuck on 90 for the best part of half an hour, blocks and replacements thwarting his path to three figures, but when he got there - in 168 balls - he pumped a triumphant fist at the cheering home balcony.
He departed with a tame plink to extra cover to give Siddle his first for his new county, before Vince's disjointed 41 gave Parkinson his third.
The quickfire double didn't deter Prest, who came in with gusto, sending four of his first 12 balls for the boundary before smashing his 13th for a six. With Liam Dawson, he upped the run-rate considerably despite the second new ball, reaching his fifty in 62 balls during an unbroken partnership of 81.