For someone whose first impression was as a batsman, Ollie Rayner is doing a pretty good job of reassuring Sussex that life without Mushtaq Ahmed might not be so bleak after all.

Rayner’s place in the record books was assured when he became only the fifth Sussex player, and first since 1920, to make a hundred on his first-class debut against Sri Lanka in 2006.

The 22-year-old, who will hope tp feature when Sussex start their Championship match against Surrey at The Oval today, is proud of his achievement but believes it is only in the last few weeks that the real Ollie Rayner is starting to emerge.

He said: “I signed as a bowler and it was unfortunate in a way that I made my first break with a hundred on my first-class debut. People treated me as a batsman for a while and I kept thinking ‘hold on, I want to be a bowler!’”

In his sporadic first-team appearances since 2006 it appeared as if skipper Chris Adams held similar views.

Rayner’s arrival into the attack was often greeted with ironic cheers from the Hove crowd and he admits his role was often to allow Mushtaq to change ends or when all else had failed in the search for a wicket.

Adams’ caution was understandable. Rayner admits he was happy in the past to play the role of dressing-room joker. At 6ft 5in with a shock of blond hair and an glittering diamond ear stud, it must be hard to blend into the background but he has made a conscious effort to get his head down this year.

The fact he is out of contract at the end of this season has no doubt helped him keep his focus.

He said: “Before, Chris Adams would throw me the ball hoping that I might do something but now he believes I can take wickets. As a result my confidence is really high and I’m relishing the role I have.”

With Saqlain Mushtaq back at Surrey after one season at Hove and Mushtaq twice undergoing knee surgery, Sussex have had little option but to give Rayner opportunities this season and they must be delighted that he has grabbed them.

On a tortuously slow pitch at Arundel last month, his 7-80 helped secure an important victory over Hampshire.

Then on a wicket which turned sharply from the start, Rayner outbowled Mushtaq to take another seven wickets against Lancashire at Old Trafford in the last match.

Although his reputation around the circuit is growing, he is still targeted by opposition batsmen.

Somerset’s Justin Langer and Zander De Bruyn did not let him settle at Horsham, where he was whipped out of the attack after eight expensive overs, while Glenn Chapple and Dominic Cork clobbered him for 36 in three overs.

It is all part of the learning curve but Rayner has shown he is trying to outwit batsmen as well as utilising his physical attributes which allow him to get bounce and turn.

He said: “I feel as if I have grown up this year and learned that you can’t bowl a wonder ball through the gate every time.

“Cork was trying to line me up last week so I tried round the wicket and it was great to see a plan come off. I’d hit him on the pad with the previous ball and I appealed quite loudly, trying to create a bit of theatre in the same way Mushy does with his appealing.

“The umpire (Trevor Jesty) told me it was doing too much so when I hit him on the pad again next ball he couldn’t not give me out. I used my brain a bit with that one.”

Ollie Rayner the cerebral bowler. That would have been unlikely a couple of years ago when he was getting one of his regular rollockings from the management for forgetting his kit.

Coach Mark Robinson said: “Ollie has done well in the last few weeks.

“He’s grown up a bit this season. He has always been a talented cricketer but what we are now seeing is consistent performances. It’s great because he is another youngster who has come through our system too.”