ALEX LEES dedicated his county cap to his late father Simon yesterday after describing the presentation as his proudest moment.

The Yorkshire opener received a warm hand from his team-mates and a 3,000 strong Headingley crowd upon presentation from Andrew Gale before hitting a polished 83 off 120 balls during the opening day against Somerset.

Lees, 21, has enjoyed an excellent summer in all forms of cricket, and he passed 50 for the seventh time in the LV= County Championship, a run which includes two centuries.

The left-hander could not prevent Somerset from restricting the champions to 241-9 from 78.2 overs during day affected by bad light, but they are not far away from a competitive total should conditions continue to be helpful for the bowlers.

Jack Leaning also added an unbeaten 50 off 115 balls after stand-in captain Joe Root had won the toss, and he will hope to get his side above 250 this morning.

Yorkshire skipper Gale addressed a healthy portion of the club’s members in a Q & A at lunchtime, where he spoke about how Lees had been tearful in the dressing room before play.

He did not, however, speak about the current controversy which surrounds him, although it is understood a meeting took place yesterday between officials from Yorkshire and the ECB.

A date for his disciplinary hearing is expected to be confirmed later this week.

Lees, one of five wickets to fall in the afternoon as Yorkshire slipped from 132-3 to 206-8, said: “I think it’s fair to say that it’s my proudest moment thus far in my life really.

“I lost my dad Simon in 2011, so that was a tribute to him. He brought me up and spent countless hours in the garden with me.

“Unfortunately he never really saw me as a professional, so to come through and be capped really touched me. It was quite an overwhelming feeling.

“Some people have different drivers, and for me I just want to do the right thing and make him proud by keep performing.

“I was disappointed not get a hundred. I felt quite attacking, and it was seaming around. I thought that real positive movements would get me into the best positions.

I was lucky to get a few bad balls early on to get me going.

“It’s seamed all day. We’re 240 now. If we can get another 20 or 30 runs, with our bowling attack we’ll be in a decent position.”

Lees played fluently in scoring 14 fours, including three of them in the second over of the day off Peter Trego. The medium pacer conceded 18 runs off his first seven balls, but he recovered well to finish with 3-66 from 17 overs.

He had Lees caught behind by Craig Kieswetter after lunch to leave the score at 173-5 in the 42nd over.

Four Yorkshire wickets fell to catches behind the wicket, either to the wicketkeeper or to the slips, while three were bowled, including Root for 35 by Jamie Overton having been dropped twice.

Leaning started his innings positively, but he had to rein it in as wickets fell around him. 

Yorkshire v Somerset
At Headingley Carnegie. Yorkshire Won
Toss
Yorkshire First Innings Close
A Lyth c Hildreth b Thomas............... 10
A Z Lees c Kieswetter b Trego......... 83
G Ballance c Trescothick b Thomas 7
J E Root b Overton.............................. 35
J M Bairstow b Trego.......................... 8
J A Leaning not out ............................. 50
A U Rashid c & b Groenewald ......... 0
R M Pyrah lbw b Groenewald........... 2
S A Patterson c Kieswetter b Trego 13
R J Sidebottom b Leach .................... 5
J A Brooks not out............................... 16
Extras (b4 lb7 w1) .............. 12
Total 9 wkts (78.2 overs). 241
Fall: 1-24 2-32 3-95 4-132 5-173 6-177
7-181 8-206 9-213
Bowling: Thomas 13-5-33-2. Trego 17-
5-66-3. Groenewald 16-4-56-2. Overton
21.2-6-51-1. Leach 11-4-24-1