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 bit late in the day, but in the end it was pretty even stevens.

“Jackson’s just off the plane and has been here under a week. He’s been playing, you could tell that. He’s a bit different, but I thought he bowled beautifully. I thought they all did. They all played their part really well and that was key.

"It was great to see Jackson come in with a couple of wickets. It’ll give him plenty of confidence and he deserves it, he bowled beautifully. I’m looking forward to seeing him more.”

It was an overcoat and bobble hat sort of day for spectators and equally uncomfortable out in the middle where blustery conditions had bowlers aborting run-ups, chasing to retrieve caps blown off.

Cook seemed the more unsettled by the wind early on if not by the benign wicket. He was outscored by the traditionally less adventurous Browne to the extent that when Browne reached his fifty from 109 balls shortly after lunch, Cook had only just accelerated to 34 from a similar number of deliveries. Indeed, Cook’s contribution had been just seven runs in the first hour.

Browne was consistently strong when straight-driving and reached his half-century with a sweet shot through mid-off that slowed up just short of the boundary to yield two.

The 200-run stand was reached when Browne abandoned normal restraint and bounced down the wicket and lofted a full-toss from rookie off-spinner Tawanda Muyeye over the mid-wicket boundary.

He followed that by whipping Bird’s first delivery with the new-ball through the on-side to record the 13th boundary of his innings and the 17th first-class century of his career.