Shreck and Ealham lead fightback

Charlie Shreck took 2-25 as Nottinghamshire dented Yorkshire's top order

Charlie Shreck and Mark Ealham helped Nottinghamshire fight back against Yorkshire as 15 wickets fell on the opening day of their LV County Championship Division One clash at Trent Bridge.

The home side had been bowled out for a modest 213 as Yorkshire seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan claimed three for 63 while Matthew Hoggard and Adil Rashid picked up two wickets apiece.

Notts opener Matthew Wood made a patient 58 from 103 balls but despite contributions from Mark Wagh (33) and Graeme Swann (27) the visitors seemed have the upper hand.

But Notts fought back and reduced Yorkshire to 72 for five in the remaining 26 overs of the day as Shreck (2-25) and Ealham (2-4) ran through the top order.

Only Adam Lyth (22) and Jacques Rudolph (19) made double figures for Yorkshire with Gerard Brophy and Matthew Hoggard, both on nought, set to resume in the morning.

Paul Horton (66), Lou Vincent (58) and Stuart Law (51) all hit half-centuries as Lancashire reached 261 for five at the close against Hampshire at Old Trafford.

Imran Tahir was the pick of the visitors’ attack as he finished with 4-80 with Francois du Plessis on 37no and Luke Sutton unbeaten on nought.

In Division Two, Shaun Udal’s highest score for 11 years rescued Middlesex against promotion rivals Worcestershire at Lord’s.

The veteran struck 91 from 147 balls in an innings which included seven fours and two sixes to help the home side recover from 147 for six to 300 all out as Kabir Ali took 5-58.

Worcestershire negotiated five tricky overs at the end to finish on nine without loss.

Marcus North fell two runs short of his century as Gloucestershire were dismissed for 275 in their clash with Essex at Chelmsford.

Mark Hardinges also chipped in with an unbeaten 40 but the day belonged to the Essex attack as Graham Napier collected 4-50 while David Masters, Danish Kaneria and James Middlebrook all claimed two wickets apiece.

Essex made a solid start in their response as openers Varun Chopra (43no) and Jason Gallian (23) took the home side to 66 without loss at stumps.

Elsewhere, former Northamptonshire captain David Sales hit a unbeaten 113 to help his side to 274 for four against Leicestershire.

After the early loss of Niall O’Brien (nine) and Rob White (20) with the score on 51 for two the hosts dug in as Sales and opener Stephen Peters (65) steadied the ship.

Sales bought up his second championship century of the season in typical fashion when he smashed Tom Smith for four, one of 14 boundaries he scored on his way to three figures.

Lance Klusener was happy to play second fiddle to Sales, frustrating the Leicestershire bowlers with several boundaries as he added a useful 44 and the pair will resume in the morning.