YORKSHIRE will be playing in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship next season.

The White Rose team enjoyed a good start to the opening day against new champions Essex at Chelmsford before a frustrating end as the hosts recovered from 80-5 to 227 all out in good bowling conditions.

At Taunton, second-bottom Somerset collapsed from 114-1 to 236 all out against Middlesex to ensure safety for Andrew Gale and company.

"Pleased and frustrated," said Gale when asked for his feelings about saving relegation.

"Obviously pleased after the situation we've been in. But frustrated that we've found ourselves in this position. Today is another example – playing the champions – of how well we can perform.

"I thought we had a good day. They chanced their arm a bit after lunch, as we thought they would do with ten Doeschate and Foster. They were always going to have a partnership down the bottom – but if you put a team in and bowl them out for less than 250, it's a job well done.

"The key now is for us to bat long periods of time and a couple of guys to put their hands up.

"It's hard to know what a good score is. They say don't judge the pitch until both teams bat. We'll see how they bowl on it."

Yorkshire came into the final week of the season knowing they would need six points to stay up, assuming Somerset won with the maximum of 24 points.

But they missed out on four batting points, with Yorkshire claiming three bowling points, hence the six-point swing needed and survival.

Somerset can still stay up but they will have to overhaul either Middlesex or Hampshire.

The good news came through during a rain break at Chelmsford at 4.35pm after Somerset had been bowled out.

In all, 22 overs were lost to the weather at Chelmsford through bad light and rain and Yorkshire were unable to start their reply.

They can now breathe easily and concentrate on ending the season with a bang by beating the so-far unbeaten champions.

They made a decent, if not spectacular, start with the ball under overcast skies and floodlights.

Steve Patterson and Jack Brooks struck three times apiece, Ben Coad and Karl Carver twice.

Yorkshire pressed ahead with three late-morning wickets as the hosts slipped from 74-2 to 80-5, with Brooks claiming two of them – Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara lbw.

The morning wickets included Patterson getting England Test batsman Tom Westley caught at second slip, having gloved a vicious rising delivery from just short of a length.

Westley (13) ran off the field wringing his right hand and went to hospital to have an X-ray on his thumb, which proved to be just bruised. That comes ahead of Wednesday morning's Ashes squad announcement.

Coad made the initial breakthrough, having Varun Chopra caught low down at first slip, and later bowled Nick Browne.

Essex enjoyed a recovery after lunch by taking the score from 84-5 to 184-8 before rain either side of the break cut ten overs from the day's allocation. Another 12 were lost through bad light late on.

Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster shared 55 for the sixth wicket before the latter batsman lofted Patterson to deep mid-wicket, leaving the score at 135-6 in the 48th over.

The same bowler had ten Doeschate caught behind shortly afterwards.

Simon Harmer and Neil Wagner further advanced Essex's score before the latter miscued Brooks to mid-off.

When play resumed after the rain with 24.4 overs remaining, South African off-spinner Harmer took his side beyond 200 and reached his first county fifty off 63 balls. His 64 was the home side's top score.

It was ended by left-arm spinner Carver, who trapped him lbw sweeping as the score fell to 222-9 in the 71st over.

Carver had been selected to play in this match in place of Tim Bresnan as the only change from last week's win over Warwickshire at Headingley.

Ryan Sidebottom, meanwhile, failed to recover from his quad injury and is missing this game.

He is spending his final week as a professional cricketer carrying the drinks alongside Bresnan and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

Carver wrapped up the Essex innings, which was played with a carefree approach, by getting Jamie Porter caught at long-off.

On Yorkshire's selection for this match, Gale said: "A spinner has to play and Brez hasn't performed to the best of his ability this year. He knows that. Matthew Fisher came in last week and looked the part with both bat and ball.

"Ryan pulled himself out on Sunday. He felt, with the nature of the game and the position we were in, that it was a big risk. I felt that from the outset as well. It would have been the wrong reasons to play him."