Nottinghamshire were indebted to half centuries from Joe Clarke and Ben Slater to get them up to a competitive 228 all out on a tricky opening day of their Rothesay County Championship Division One match against Yorkshire at Headingley.

Mohammed Abbas then removed both openers as the home side closed on 10 for two in reply.

Clarke batted for 310 minutes and faced 151 deliveries for his 64, whilst Slater made 52 from 111 balls and admitted that it had been a challenging morning session after the visitors had been put in to bat.

“It wasn’t easy” said Slater. “Probably up there with one of the toughest wickets I’ve batted on for quite a while.

“I played and missed quite a lot and we rode our luck at times but sometimes you need that, especially when it’s tough going.”

There were very few easy scoring opportunities handed out during the morning session as Notts were restricted to just 67 in the two-hour session.

“Their attack is obviously a good attack,” continued Slater. “You can see it with the numbers, they are all experienced and back each other up well.

“We knew that losing the toss on a green wicket was going to be a grind and a battle and that’s what it was. I’d heard that they had left 12 millimetres of grass on there, so it’s not fun to have the ball nipping around. It’s not abnormal and you’ve just got to get on with it.”

The 33-year old was eventually dismissed for 52, just a couple of deliveries after reaching his fifth 50 of the campaign.

“Obviously I would have liked to go on but as long as I’m contributing, then I’m happy, I feel like I’m playing nicely.”

Slater batted either side of lunch with Clarke and feels like the right-hander has come through a sticky period this term.

“We all know how good Clarkey is, his record tells everyone that, 25 hundreds at an average of 40. We knew he’d thrive when we needed him. To get 64 today, that’s a lot on that wicket.”

Notts ended the day on a high, with Abbas nipping out Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean. Slater said that he’s been in that position before.

“I’m just glad Mo is on my side now. I’ve had to face him in those situations before, he said. “He’s not the easiest to face at the best of times but when you’ve just got to bat for a few overs he’s a handful.

“We’ll just be looking to push on tomorrow and try and establish a first innings lead now.”