Yorkshire dominated the day's play at Chelmsford reaching 376-9, a total that owed much to flourishing contributions from their middle and late order batsmen.

The features of the innings were the performances of James Middlebrook and Chris Silverwood which roused their side as they added 126 runs in 25 overs. Both punished mercilessly the wayward Essex bowling and were particularly harsh on paceman Ashley Cowan who, despite claiming three wickets, conceded 111 runs from his 23 overs.

Both Middlebrook and 26-year-old Silverwood reached career-best figures with the bat, executing drives and pulls providentially. Silverwood had reached 70 from 74 deliveries with one six and 11 boundaries before he edged a catch to the wicket-keeper while his partner was only 16 runs short of a maiden century when he attempted to cut a ball from Ronnie Irani and was caught at third man by Cowan.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Yorkshire had seemingly lost the initiative when half their side were dismissed for 130 in 45 overs. Scott Richardson, a 23-year-old making his championship debut was the first to go after making a pleasing 22 before he became one of two wickets for Mark Ilott.

The Essex left-arm paceman's second scalp was that of prized Australian Darren Lehmann who, having scored seven, chased a wide delivery immediately after the lunch restart to edge a catch to the keeper.

It was David Byas who began the fightback with a sterling innings of 55 from 99 deliveries to halt the slide and 41 from Richard Blakey saw the side move away from their difficult position. Then came the profiteering performances from 24-year-old Middlebrook and Silverwood to give the innings prosperity.

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