A popular figure with fans of the English seaside county, Hughes demonstrated exactly why once again as he top-scored with 136 off 162 balls, striking 20 handsome boundaries in a three-hour 50-minute knock that helped put the visitors in command of their first division match at Leicester.
After Leicestershire were dismissed for 328 on the opening day, with Aussie Test opener Jake Weatherald making 45, Hughes continued his fine early-season form with a third half-century, but this time kicked on, striking a lovely cover-driven four to get to three figures off 124 balls.
Hughes was clearly annoyed with himself at then chasing a wide half-volley and getting caught behind when a huge score looked his for the taking, but it helped Sussex move into a handy lead at 8-386.
Hughes's partner is netball star Maddy Proud, and he was delighted to make it a double success on Saturday, having woken up to hear that her NSW Swifts team had beaten Sunshine Coast Lightning 70-56 back home.
He admits he's been missing Maddy and daughter Lily, but they're due to join him later in the summer in England when the Sydney Sixers batter will hope to rediscover the form in the T20 Blast that he showed in 2024 at Sussex when he was the leading run-scorer in the competition with 596 runs.
"It was very pleasing. I've had a few starts this year and haven't really converted them, so it was nice to get to three figures today," Hughes said.
Caleb Jewell had looked on course to score his first ton of the season too for Derbyshire but after resuming on 91no overnight at Derby, he added only three more before being caught behind off Northamptonshire's Australian quick Harry Conway.
Derbyshire ploughed on, though, with Martin Andersson scoring 106 and wicketkeeper Brooke Guest, the former Australia Under-19 batter, making 141 as they amassed 7-604 before declaring.
Test batting allrounder Nathan McSweeney (2-48) got both the centurions out, while Conway slogged hard for 3-102 off his 24 overs. McSweeney, though, fell for a duck as Northants struggled to 4-98.
Veteran seamer Dan Worrall finished up with 6-73 as Surrey bowled out champions Nottinghamshire for 415 at Trent Bridge, but his opposition Australian quick Fergus O'Neill knuckled down well at No.9 to make a valuable 41.
Surrey responded with 4-211, with England batter Dom Sibley continuing his push for a national recall with another fine knock of 77.
At Worcester, England captain Ben Stokes was dismissed for 14 for Durham as he continued his return in his first match since the Ashes, but the story of the day came at Cardiff where 18-year-old Tom Norton claimed a hat-trick on his Glamorgan debut against Somerset.
