England's loss was Yorkshire's gain against Somerset at Taunton today when they were able to include Matthew Hoggard who was released from the Test squad at Old Trafford yesterday.

And Hoggard was quickly into the action when Somerset won the toss and chose to bat first on a blustery morning with showers threatening.

The rain brought play to a halt after less than six overs with Somerset on 14-1.

Chris Silverwood started with a demanding maiden to skipper Jamie Cox before Mark Lathwell took two consecutive fours off Hoggard, the first a steer to third man and the second a lucky snick which went through the vacant third slip.

A good deal of pace was being generated by Silverwood and he made the breakthrough in the fifth over with the score on 12, Cox being unable to cope with extra bounce and giving a catch to wicketkeeper Simon Guy on his championship debut.

Hoggard made a late dash south west last night to join his team-mates after what had turned into a hectic day.

He netted with England in the morning before driving to Leeds for a medical appointment and it was not until he returned to Manchester later on that he was told his services were no longer required.

Hoggard's unexpected availability for Yorkshire meant that they left out 19-year-old seamer Chris Elstub who has been highly praised by skipper David Byas for his splendid bowling in the Roses match..

"Chris did a monumental job against Lancashire and to dismiss batsmen of the calibre of Michael Atherton, Andy Flintoff and Neil Fairbrother was a marvellous achievement," said Byas.

"He is still very much a youngster and tires fairly quickly but he knows what he's doing and has proved to be a tremendous asset.

"He's earned the right to play for us whenever Matthew Hoggard is out of the side or whenever we are a senior bowler light for any other reason."

It was a particularly important match for Guy who replaced the axed Richard Blakey while left-arm spinner Ian Fisher came in for his second game of the season at the expense of off-spinner James Middlebrook who was again omitted.

Although Yorkshire were pleased to welcome back Hoggard, they were still without their Test trio of Darren Gough, Michael Vaughan while Somerset were short of their England pair, Marcus Trescothick and Andy Caddick.

Harrogate's Vic Craven was due to open the innings in place of Vaughan and Gavin Hamilton was back in the team after recovering from a side injury.

Today's SCOREBOARD

PPP healthcare County Championship

Division One

(day 1 of 4)

Somerset v Yorkshire

at Taunton

Somerset First Innings

Cox c Guy b Silverwood 4

Lathwell not out 8

Holloway not out 0

Extras 2

Total 1 wkts (5.4 overs) 14

Fall: 1-12. Rain stopped play