County Championship: Yorkshire all out for 50 as 22 wickets fall at Essex

Jonny Bairstow missed Yorkshire's first two County Championship games of the season after spending the winter touring with England

Yorkshire were bowled out for just 50 by champions Essex as 22 wickets fell on a crazy first day at Chelmsford.

England captain Joe Root was out first ball and only Gary Ballance (22) made double figures, with Sam Cook (5-28) and Peter Siddle (4-7) doing damage.

In reply, Alastair Cook went without scoring as Essex fell to 2-2, before Dan Lawrence (48) helped them to 142.

Yorkshire fared better in their second innings, with Harry Brook unbeaten on 57 as they closed on 161-2, 69 ahead.

The visitors' first-innings total was their lowest in the County Championship since they were bowled out for 43 by Surrey at The Oval in 1973.

• Relive Yorkshire's 50 all out against Essex

Wickets tumble before lunch

After winning the toss and deciding to bat, Yorkshire were reduced to 22-5 as Brook, Adam Lyth and Root, in his first domestic outing of 2018, all departed without scoring.

Twenty-year-old seamer Cook had removed Lyth and Root in the fourth over, and Ballance had to survive a hat-trick ball when he came to the crease at 9-3.

Partnerships with Cheteshwar Pujara and England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow were short-lived before Jack Leaning was trapped lbw by Siddle.

Steven Patterson, Jack Brooks and Ballance all edged deliveries from Australia paceman Siddle behind as Yorkshire were dismissed in 18.4 overs.

Essex falter in reply

Essex started their first innings before lunch at Chelmsford but it continued to be a miserable morning for England's batsmen, with Cook nicking Brooks behind without scoring and Tom Westley being bowled by Brooks' next ball to leave the hosts 10-2 at the end of the session.

They lost Nick Browne soon after the resumption, but Lawrence provided some resistance until being trapped lbw by Tim Bresnan (3-26).

Simon Harmer (36) helped to give Essex a first-innings lead of 92 runs, as Ben Coad also picked up three wickets.

Yorkshire batted with more conviction second time round, as Bairstow opened the batting and reached 50 before being bowled by Siddle.

Brook showed composure to accelerate the scoring, with his half-century coming in 47 balls, to help the visitors end a dramatic day 69 runs ahead.

Yorkshire's miserable morning (all times BST)

11:06 - Harry Brook edges Sam Cook low to Simon Harmer at slip - 0-1

11:14 - Adam Lyth nicks Cook behind for nought - 9-2

11:18 - Joe Root is caught at slip by England team-mate Alastair Cook first ball; Sam Cook's third wicket - 9-3

11:26 - India's Cheteshwar Pujara is pinned lbw by Jamie Porter - 11-4

11:41 - England keeper Jonny Bairstow bowled by Cook for seven - 22-5

12:11 - Jack Leaning removed lbw by Peter Siddle - 41-6

12:16 - Tim Bresnan out lbw to Cook - 42-7

12:24 - Steven Patterson caught behind off Siddle - 45-8

12:26 - Jack Brooks edges Siddle to third slip - 45-9

12:36 - Gary Ballance caught superbly by Nick Browne at third slip off Siddle - 50 all out

Essex's Sam Cook:

"It's obviously a great feeling to get the England captain. It was nice to get those wickets first up and put us in a good position.

"The wicket definitely did improve through the day and we didn't expect it to have improved that quickly. But, as Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook proved, if you get in, you can cash in. Jonny came out and played really aggressively, different to the approach they took in the first innings.

"They are in a strong position, we know that, and we have a lot of work to do. We were a little taken aback not to be batting first. But it has proved now that it is a good wicket. It definitely looks as if the wicket's getting better."

Yorkshire and England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow:

"It was an opportunity to go out and just play. They just said, 'Do you fancy it?' and I said, 'Of course'. It's not something I've thought too much about but it's a situation I've faced many, many times in white-ball cricket.

"I don't think it changes the way you play too much. It's more of a case of just being positive. If the ball's there and you're tentative and staying on your crease, who knows it might swing? If you're positive with your movements, and you put them back under pressure, then if you getting runs off their best balls they've got to change their game-plan.

"We didn't do ourselves justice in the first innings, so I wouldn't say it was the most upbeat dressing room I've ever been in. But it's a better dressing room than it could have been in after being bowled out for 50. To then come out and score 160 in a session doesn't happen too often."