DARREN Lehmann shrugged off the effects of a stiff and painful back to stop Yorkshire from falling apart on the first day of their Championship match against Somerset at Scarborough yesterday.

The Australian left-hander rested in the pavilion until the fall of the fourth wicket at 129 and he went on to make an unbeaten 90 out of a below par total of 296.

Somerset were 58-1 at the close and with Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, settling in well in his first Championship match for the county, Yorkshire need to show sharper form today if they are to stay in the game.

Although Lehmann was clearly restricted in his running between the wickets he still looked a class act and he never once gave a chance while facing 135 balls and striking 11 fours and a six.

Last man Steve Kirby tried hard to stay with Lehmann until he had reached his second century of the season but he moved across his stumps to his ninth ball and was lbw without scoring to West Indian Nixon McLean, who finished with 6-79.

The ball swung around a little in the humid air but that was no excuse for a poor batting effort from Yorkshire after Matthew Wood had won the toss and put on 98 for the second wicket with Anthony McGrath.

The first wicket to go down was in the morning's opening over when Championship debutant Andrew Gale was lbw to his second ball from McLean.

Yorkshire also had two other debutants in their side in wicketkeeper Ismail Dawood and leg-spinner Mark Lawson and, although they could only manage 19 between them, Dawood stroked one sweet cover boundary while Dawson opened his account with consecutive fours off McLean from a steer and a glance.

Both Wood and McGrath batted attractively, hitting bad deliveries well, to entertain the crowd but Somerset were sure Wood had an escape on 41 when they appealed for a catch behind off Ian Blackwell but umpire Barry Dudleston was unmoved.

Wood completed his fifth half-century in his last six Championship innings but soon afterwards off-spinner Keith Dutch had him caught behind for 59 from 90 balls with ten fours and a six and Yorkshire began to slide.

McGrath just missed out on his half century by pushing forward at Keith Dutch and being taken at second slip by Ponting and in the second over after lunch Ian Harvey played across a ball from McLean and was lbw.

The fifth wicket went down at 144 when Michael Lumb, who had spent 24 balls making his first run, could not take his bat away from a ball from McLean which shaved the edge and Lehmann responded to the crisis by sweeping Dutch for six.

A good catch diving forward at second slip by Ponting accounted for Dawood but Somerset were temporarily checked as Richard Dawson helped Lehmann add 53 for the seventh wicket before Dawson drove Dutch to deep mid-off.

Chris Silverwood twice got away with mistimed hooks which Peter Bowler could not get underneath at long leg and his stand of 45 with Lehmann was also valuable but Yorkshire's final total was far less than they would have wanted to make and two batting bonus points out of a possible five showed how frail they were overall.

Silverwood struck an early blow for Yorkshire when Bowler edged him to Dawson at third slip but John Francis and Ponting safely played out the day's remaining overs, final one being bowled by leg spinner Lawson who conceded only a single and was warmly applauded by the 3,200 crowd.

Updated: 10:54 Thursday, July 22, 2004