England opener Alastair Cook is set to make his first home appearance of the season when Essex meet Yorkshire in the County Championship at The Cloudfm County Ground tomorrow.

Former England Test captain Cook is named in a 13-man squad against opponents Yorkshire, who are able to include fellow England stars Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

Cook played for Essex in the drawn match with Hampshire earlier this week, scoring 84, and has been made available by the ECB to play against Yorkshire and in the next match with Worcestershire ahead of the forthcoming Test series with Pakistan.

Essex head coach Anthony McGrath said: “Alastair continued where he left off for us last year and looked as if he’d never been away. Obviously we love having him around and he’s a terrific presence both on and off the field.”

The equivalent of more than two days were lost to a combination of rain and bad light during the county’s match with Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl earlier this week, although Essex did manage to earn 10 points from the drawn game, a return that pleased McGrath.

“The weather forecast was for a total washout for the final day of the Hampshire game but we got a full day’s play in so it was good that our bowlers and batsmen were able to spend time in the middle,” he said.

“Despite the weather, there were a good few positives to take from the game.

“Peter Siddle put in a brilliant effort with the ball, he passed the bat so many times and Sam Cook benefitted from his first match of the season.

“Alastair and Ravi Bopara played superbly and it was nice to see Ravi get a decent score; he’s looked impressive pre-season but that innings against Hampshire was good for him and his confidence.

“Once again, James Foster made a valuable contribution, at one stage I thought we might not get 250 but he came in and helped us to get to 300 and that third batting point.

“So overall, apart from the weather, I’m satisfied with the way things panned out.”