England captain Alastair Cook scored 59 runs during his first County Championship appearance of the season for Essex this afternoon.

The 28-year-old returned to the crease against Hampshire this morning having amassed 48 runs yesterday.

However, despite having recorded a half-century with a stroke through the covers for four, Cook was only able to add 11 runs to his overnight total before he was trapped lbw by left-arm seamer James Tomlinson.

Cook will lead England during next month's Test series against New Zealand and then into the Ashes later this summer.