County Championship: Tom Westley and Nick Browne hit half-centuries before weather frustrates Essex at Kent

Essex batter Nick Browne (right) raises his bat after reaching 50 on the first day of his side's County Championship game at Kent

Essex were thwarted by the weather after taking charge against Kent on the opening day of their County Championship Division One match at Canterbury.

The visitors made the most of the 42 overs possible due to bad light and rain as Nick Browne and Tom Westley posted unbeaten half-centuries.

The pair amassed an unbroken 121 for the second wicket after Alastair Cook was dismissed for a swashbuckling 39 inside the first nine overs.

Essex were 164-1 when the heavens opened and washed out the second half of the day's play.

Last September, Essex won by an innings and 260 runs after posting 573 batting first at Canterbury and, after winning the toss, chose to revisit that blueprint.

The visitors took advantage of a placid pitch and some loose bowling to make a flying start, with Cook racing to an uncharacteristic 39 from 29 balls, featuring nine fours and a three, before getting an inside edge to debutant overseas paceman Wes Agar to offer Sam Billings a tumbling catch behind the stumps.

In July 2013 Agar's older brother Ashton dismissed Cook for 50 in an Ashes Test at Trent Bridge to register his first Test wicket. Fast-forward nearly 10 years and his younger brother's first wicket in England just had to be the same batter.

Westley joined Browne and the boundary count had reached 17 before the first single of the day was taken by Westley in the 18th over.

By lunch Essex had scored 23 fours to just 11 singles, using 42 scoring shots to amass a total of 121-1 from 30 overs.

Westley brought up his half-century two balls after the resumption, taking Conor McKerr to the ropes for his ninth boundary, while Browne followed suit from nearly twice as many deliveries soon after, cracking Nathan Gilchrist through the covers for his 10th four.

The last time Browne posted 50 he went on to score an unbeaten double-hundred as Essex posted 505-9 declared against Somerset last July.

He was denied the chance to try to emulate that by bad light, coupled with high winds making it impossible to safely raise the floodlights.

During an eight-minute spell when the light briefly improved and before the rain arrived, Westley edged Gilchrist over third slip, one of the few glimmers of a chance which Kent managed to conjure.

Essex are without Sam Cook - who claimed 10-wickets in the match and 7-33 in the second innings on his last appearance at Canterbury - because of a hamstring problem while Dan Lawrence also missed out with a groin injury.