County Championship: Sam Cook takes five as Essex bowl out Lancashire cheaply

Sam Cook's five-wicket haul was his 12th for Essex

James Anderson warmed up for this summer's Ashes by claiming the prized scalp of former England captain Alastair Cook in his first County Championship appearance for 11 months.

Lancashire's decision to bat first on a straw-coloured wicket meant Anderson remained tucked up in the pavilion until required to bat shortly before tea.

England's all-time leading wicket-taker then required just three balls in Essex's reply to collect his first wicket of the domestic season.

Nick Browne chased one that lifted outside off-stump to give a catch to Luke Wells at first slip before Cook played forward half-cock in his sixth over to be judged lbw.

Anderson finished the day with 2-33 from 11 overs as Essex reached the close on 98-3, in response to Lancashire being bowled out for 207.

Sam Cook, the more than promising Essex seamer with aspirations of eventually replacing Anderson when he retires from Test cricket, took the limelight with his first five-wicket haul of the season.

Lancashire's up-and-down innings was underpinned by 20-year-old wicketkeeper George Bell, having only his fourth Championship outing, who was ninth out for a career-best 60 from 109 balls that included 10 fours and displayed maturity beyond his years.

Not that there were too many signs early on of the sort of life that Anderson was to extract in his seven-over salvo in the evening session.

When Tom Westley misjudged a ball from Will Williams to become another lbw victim, Essex were 25-3, but England batter Dan Lawrence (39) and Matt Critchley (23) saw Essex to stumps with an unbroken half-century partnership.

That included five penalty runs when Grandhomme's return to the wicketkeeper hit Critchley's bat and was penalised under Law 28.2 for "illegal fielding of the ball".

Match report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.