Gary Ballance admitted his delight at starting Yorkshire’s pre-season tour with a century today.

The England Test batsman scored 103 off 188 balls, hitting 14 fours, during the opening day of the champions’ two-day friendly against Lancashire in Dubai.

Ballance underpinned a recovery from 0-1 after one ball to 313-6 at close, although he was one of three men to retire out.

The left-hander, 26, also praised his team-mates for their resilience after the early loss of Adam Lyth for a golden duck.

“To go out and get a hundred first game of the tour is very pleasing, and I’m very happy with how I played.

“Hopefully I can take this start into the MCC game and into the start of the season.

“It felt a bit weird being back out on grass. It’s not like English conditions, but there was still a bit of nip early on with the Dukes ball.

“They have some good seamers who did well last year. Kyle Jarvis and Tom Bailey bowled well and Nathan Buck, who has been around a long time. I thought we all did very well after a tough start.”