Mark Ramprakash looks certain to be carpeted by the ECB for losing his rag with Sussex’s Murray Goodwin.

Umpires John Steele and Rob Bailey have confirmed that Ramprakash was reported for two separate incidents on the first day of the Championship match at The Oval when he confronted Goodwin who had accused him of running down the middle of the pitch before pointing his bat at Steele as the players left the field.

All of which overshadowed another stellar contribution from the 38-year-old, who just might have batted Sussex out of contention for a third successive title after making 178 in Surrey’s first-innings 455.

When he was finally prised out – well caught by Robin Martin-Jenkins trying to clear the square leg boundary – he had scored 490 runs since his previous dismissal and batted for 19 hours 24 minutes.

Although Surrey laboured for five sessions for their runs they have left Sussex with little chance of winning the game and putting pressure on leaders Nottinghamshire, who visit Hove next week.

Sussex’s reply began badly with Chris Nash and Michael Thornely, for a duck, falling in successive overs from Jade Dernbach.

Acting captain Mike Yardy and Murray Goodwin were both dropped but they settled down to forge a stand of 68 but three overs before the close Yardy was run out by James Benning’s direct hit after his partner had called him through for a tight single to short fine leg.

It was a big blow but, although this may be one of the most inexperienced sides in Sussex’s recent history, eight of the batsmen have a first-class hundred to their name so it should not be beyond them to get close to parity with Surrey on a pitch which has so far held few terrors for batsmen.

Their task will be made easier if they can find someone to match Ramprakash’s patient accumulation.

His third-wicket stand of 232 with Jon Batty was ended by Corey Collymore shortly after Batty had reached his second hundred of the season but Ramprakash added 45 more runs yesterday without offering a semblance of a chance so it was a shock when he got out to such a high-risk shot so close to lunch.

Mind you, Ollie Rayner was not complaining. The off-spinner has dismissed Ramprakash – whose innings spanned 311 balls and included 23 fours and a six – twice this season and not many county bowlers can say that.

Rayner bowled consistently on a pitch offering just slow turn and it must have been frustrating that by the time Surrey belatedly decided to try to accelerate after lunch the spoils were shared by Sussex’s part-time off-spinners.

Surrey lost their last six wickets for 57 in 13 overs with Rory Hamilton-Brown and Chris Nash claiming three apiece.

Hamilton-Brown picked up his first two first-class wickets in three balls when he removed the obdurate Usman Afzaal, whose painstaking 58 had occupied 143 balls, and Matt Nicholson before last man Murtaza Hussain was smartly stumped after Carl Hopkinson had flicked the ball back to wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd from short leg.

Nash, meanwhile, finished with a career-best 3-7, all three of his victims perishing trying to hit over the top. He could have had a fourth wicket too had Yardy not dropped a skyer at mid-wicket to reprieve Alex Tudor, whose 30 came off 27 balls.

Surrey are without three injured seamers hence the return of Tudor on loan from Essex. Surprisingly, he was not given the new ball but Dernbach made good use of it instead, bowling Nash via a thin inside edge before doing just enough off the pitch to defeat Thornely’s prod forward.

Like all of Sussex’s opponents, Goodwin's is the wicket they covet more than most and there was a collective groan all around the Oval when Nicholson grassed a relatively easy chance moving to his left at second slip in James Benning’s first over. Now he needs some support from down the order as Sussex chase their first target of 306 to avoid the follow-on.