County Championship: Blackpool rain ruins first day for Lancashire and Essex

Stanley Park, Blackpool is staging its first County Championship game since 2011

The first day of Lancashire's County Championship match with second-placed Essex at Blackpool was badly affected by the weather with just 28 balls possible.

In that time Essex made 12-1 for the loss of Nick Browne, leaving Alastair Cook (4 not out) and Tom Westley (8 not out) to resume in the morning.

Both teams made enforced changes, after Essex opener Feroze Khushi sustained a sore hand last week in the T20 Blast, while Lancashire rested Daryl Mitchell to help the New Zealand all-rounder manage a groin issue.

After a misleadingly sunny morning, Essex won the toss and elected to bat under increasingly gloomy skies, a mood probably shared by Browne after he edged the fourth delivery of the day from Tom Bailey to Colin de Grandhomme at third slip without a run on the board.

There was also time in the 25 balls bowled in the morning session for Cook to punch a four off the back foot from Will Williams and Essex skipper Westley to glance Bailey to fine leg for four.

At that point the rain arrived to take the players from the field for more than six hours, and it was a testament to the Blackpool club that their outfield, re-laid three years ago, coped admirably with the deluge.

That allowed umpires Peter Hartley and Steve O'Shaughnessy to restart play at 17:30 BST following several inspections, but only three balls had been bowled in Bailey's interrupted over before bad light halted play.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.