Somerset ended in a strong position at the end of the first day of their championship match against bottom of the table Yorkshire at Scarborough.

After batting successes against Surrey in the last match opener Matt Wood came back down to earth when he was out for 5 with the score on 17.

His opening partner Piran Holloway was joined by acting skipper Mike Burns and together they moved the score on to 49 before Burns was caught by MatthewWood off left arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom for 21.

Veteran batsman Peter Bowler joined Holloway and saw up the hundred and the hundred and fifty before being parted with the score on 161. Holloway continued his return to form scoring by 69 before he was bowled by England spinner Richard Dawson.Between them the pair had added 112 for the fourth wicket.

Bowler and Keith Parsons then took Somerset onto 246 before Bowler was also bowled by Dawson for 84. Parsons remained at the wicket a little longer before he was bowled by Yorkshire skipper Darren Lehmann for 59.

With the score on 294 for 5 after 100 overs the players left the field for a short while, but returned for a further 2 overs during which time the Cidermen had taken their score onto 299 without further loss, with Blackwell on 34 and Rob Turner 8 at the close.

At the end of the day Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "It's been a very good day for us, all of the batters have applied themselves well and we have got ourselves into a good position."

He continued: "It's not a true wicket, and it is already starting to turn a little bit, which both Piran Holloway and Peter Bowler found out. With both of our spinners, Ian Blackwell and Keith Dutch in the side that suits us."

He concluded: "Tomorrow we will looking to get beyond 400 which is well within our sights, and that should be a good score."

© SOMERSET