Australian bowler Jackson Bird takes two wickets as Kent fight back after Sir Alastair Cook and Nick Browne score hundreds for Essex

Kent took four wickets with the second new ball as they launched a late comeback on the opening day of the new county cricket season on Thursday.

Essex openers Sir Alastair Cook and Nick Browne battled through fierce winds to record a 220-run stand that threatened to demoralise Kent in Division 1 of the LV= Insurance County Championship.

But Essex slipped to 272-4 at the close after stand-in Kent captain Ollie Robinson opted to field first after winning the toss.

Robinson took over captain duties from Jack Leaning, who missed out through a hamstring injury.

It took Kent five and a half hours before making the breakthrough when Australian debutant Jackson Bird forced Browne into his only mistake in an innings that spanned 253 balls, contained 13 fours and brought him 107 runs.

Browne’s dismissal did not upset Cook’s concentration as the former England captain duly clocked up the 70th century of his distinguished career before driving loosely at Bird four balls later and edging behind for 100.

The platform built by Cook and Browne threatened to be wasted as England batsman Dan Lawrence departed lbw for seven, played no shot to former Essex bowler Matt Quinn.

Then Nathan Gilchrist trapped nightwatchman Jamie Porter plum in front second ball without score.

Kent head coach Matt Walker said: “It’s always good to finish a day well. I thought we did well all day actually, the only thing that was missing was something in the wickets column.

"I thought we did enough to deserve a couple of wickets. Cook and Browne played very well. We tried everything, stuck to our plans really, really well. They gave us very little chance, but we kept plugging away.

"We knew if we stuck to our guns something would happen and eventually it came, a