Essex dominated a truncated first day against Kent in the LV= Insurance County Championship at Canterbury, posting 164 for one.

Tom Westley was unbeaten on 71 and Nick Browne made 54 before the rain intervened.

Kent debutant Wes Agar took the only wicket to fall when he had Alastair Cook caught behind, leaving him with figures of 39 for one.

The players initially came off for bad light during the afternoon session and heavy rain subsequently saw play officially abandoned at 5 pm.

Essex dominated what little action there was. After winning the toss,they chose to bat in Baltic conditions and approached the morning session like wizened old-timers taking on a callow bowling attack. They didn’t run because they didn’t to, hitting 17 boundaries before they scored their first single.

Kent’s sole breakthrough came when Cook, who’d made a rapid 39 from just 30 balls, edged Agar behind to Sam Billings. By claiming the former England captain’s scalp, Agar reportedly won a bet with his brother Ashton, whose first wicket for Australia came as a 19-year-old when he dismissed Cook during the 2013 Ashes test at Trent Bridge.

It was the only bright moment for Kent during an otherwise one-sided session that saw Essex reach 121 for one at lunch.

Westley drove the second ball of the afternoon session, from Conor McKerr, through point to reach his half-century and Browne passed the same landmark with an elegant cover drive off Nathan Gilchrist.

The visitors had cantered to 159 for one when bad light halted play at 2.19 pm. There was an-eight minute resumption before rain started to fall and with no realistic prospect of conditions improving, the umpires called a halt for the day.

Essex’s Nick Browne said: “It was a good toss to win on a potentially good wicket. It was a good total, I felt quite nice and Cookie and Tommy got off to flyers, which took a bit of the pressure off me. I could just sit in and wait for that bad ball.

“It’s a little bit of a slow wicket. I think they actually bowled quite nicely in patches, but I think it’s probably a batter-friendly wicket

(On scoring so many boundaries rather than singles) “It’s quite a quick boundary here, isn’t it. Up the slope it’s quite short and if you get it down the slope it flies away so it was just about timing it and trying to get the gaps. Hopefully we can kick on tomorrow.

(On the shot that brought up his 50) “I got quite a bit of width and I felt like I was in quite good positions most of the day, so it was in my arc to put it through the covers.

“We would 100 percent have taken this situation if offered it at the start of the day.

“Obviously it was a bit of a shame losing that amount of overs, but you’ve definitely got to take 160 for one. Hopefully we can get some more cricket in the next three days and stamp our authority on this game.”

Kent’s Wes Agar said: “It’s always exciting to come to a new place and play cricket. County cricket is something that I wanted to tick off the bucket list in my career and to be able to get my cap today was a really pleasing moment.

“It was definitely special (to get his first wicket). Alastair Cook’s a great player and renowned worldwide. He’s someone I certainly look up to on the field, he has a presence and I was lucky enough to get him out. Unfortunately not before he’d done some damage to the scoreboard, but it was pleasing nonetheless.

“I think he was Ashton’s first test match wicket so it was cool to share that bond, but obviously there’s a lot more work to do in the coming days.

“It’s definitely different to Australian wickets. Coming over here you get told what to expect, but you don’t really experience it till you’re out there in the middle, so it’s about adapting to that.”

“They’re a little bit slower off the wicket, they don’t have the bounce and carry that the Australian wickets do, so it’s just about adapting to that and talking to the boys who have experience out here and how we’re going to go about it.”

“Obviously the goal is to get the 20 wickets and they might come unconventionally but if we can create those 20 chances it goes a long way.

“I keep it pretty simple, I don’t think too much at the best of times, so I just go out there and do what I do. That’s put me in the position to be here. The length changes here, you’ve got to put your ego on the hook and if you get driven down the ground a couple of times it’s ok.

“There are some great players in each side. I’m coming up against players that I’ve seen and a lot that I follow on Instagram! I’m no stranger to the quality of the cricket here.”

“I’ve played against Joe Denly, I’ve played against Sam Billings and back home I’ve played with Jas Singh who’s also a young, upcoming quick here, in Adelaide, so I’ve got some ties with the boys.”

“I’ve played with Grant Stewart many years ago back in Adelaide so I do know the boys and it makes it a lot easier fitting in.”