ALEX LEES dedicated his county cap to his late father Simon after describing the presentation as his proudest ever moment.

The Yorkshire opener received a warm hand from his team-mates and a 3,000 strong Headingley crowd upon presentation from captain Andrew Gale before hitting a polished 83 off 120 balls during the opening day against Somerset.

Lees, 21, has enjoyed an excellent summer in all forms of cricket, and he passed 50 for the seventh time in the LV= County Championship, a run which includes two centuries.

The left-hander could not prevent Somerset from restricting the champions to 241-9 from 78.2 overs during day affected by bad light, but they are not a million miles away from a competitive total should conditions continue to be helpful for the bowlers.

York's Jack Leaning also added an unbeaten 50 off 115 balls after stand-in captain Joe Root had won the toss, and he will hope to get his side above 250.

Yorkshire skipper Gale addressed a healthy portion of the club’s members in a question and answer session at lunchtime, where he spoke about how Lees had been tearful in the dressing room before play.

He did not, however, speak about the current controversy which surrounds him, although it is understood a meeting took place between officials from Yorkshire and the ECB.

A date for his disciplinary hearing is expected to be confirmed later this week.

Lees, who was one of five wickets to fall in the afternoon as Yorkshire slipped from 132-3 to 206-8, said: "I think it's fair to say that it's my proudest moment thus far in my life really.

“I lost my dad Simon in 2011, so that was a tribute to him. He brought me up and spent countless hours in the garden with me.

“Unfortunately, he never really saw me as a professional, so to come through and be capped really touched me. It was quite an overwhelming feeling.

"Some people have different drivers, and for me I just want to do the right thing and make him proud by keeping performing.

"I was disappointed not get a hundred. I felt quite attacking, and it was seaming around. I thought that real positive movements would get me into the best positions. I was lucky to get a few bad balls early on to get me going.

"It's seamed all day. We're 240 now. If we can get another 20 or 30 runs, with our bowling attack we'll be in a decent position.”

Lees played fluently in scoring 14 fours, including three of them in the second over of the day off Peter Trego. The Somerset medium pacer conceded 18 runs off his first seven balls, but he recovered well to finish with 3-66 from 17 overs.

He had Lees caught behind by Craig Kieswetter after lunch to leave the score at 173-5 in the 42nd over.

Four Yorkshire wickets fell to catches behind the wicket, either to the wicketkeeper or to the slips, while three were bowled, including Root for 35 by Jamie Overton having been dropped twice.

Leaning started his innings positively, but he had to rein it in as wickets fell around him. He did not face another ball after posting his fourth 50 of the campaign.

SCOREBOARD

LV= County Championship

Division one

Yorkshire v Somerset

at Headingley Carnegie

(Yorkshire won toss)

Yorkshire First Innings

A Lyth c Hildreth b Thomas 10

A Z Lees c Kieswetter b Trego 83

G S Ballance c Trescothick b Thomas 7

J E Root b Overton 35

J M Bairstow b Trego 8

J A Leaning not out 50

A U Rashid c & b Groenewald 0

R M Pyrah lbw b Groenewald 2

S A Patterson c Kieswetter b Trego 13

R J Sidebottom b Leach 5

J A Brooks not out 16

Extras (b4 lb7 w1) 12

Total 9 wkts (78.2 overs) 241

Fall: 1-24 2-32 3-95 4-132 5-173 6-177 7-181 8-206 9-213.

Bowling: Thomas 13-5-33-2, Trego 17-5-66-3, Groenewald 16-4-56-2, Overton 21.2-6-51-1, Leach 11-4-24-1.