Kent toiled away in the field on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division 1 match with Essex at Canterbury on Monday.

Matt Critchley cashed in after being dropped on six to post an unbeaten 80 after Sir Alastair Cook had made 78 and another half-century from Tom Westley (54) got them to 327-4 at the close.

Grant Stewart had Kent’s most economical figures with 1-48, but the bowlers struggled to make inroads in a game that could be pivotal for their hopes of avoiding relegation.

Essex were reduced to 219-4 but Critchley’s unbroken partnership of 108 with Feroze Khushi, unbeaten on 46, tipped the momentum back in favour of the visitors.

Kent chose to bowl after winning the toss but struggled to create any chances, despite heavy cloud cover at The Spitfire Ground.

Essex were 82 without loss at lunch and enjoyed a break early in the afternoon session when Cook was put down in the slips after edging Stewart, when he was on 44.

The opening stand of 101 ended when Matt Quinn took a sharp return catch to remove Nick Browne for 45, but Cook and Westley put on 58 for the second wicket before the former edged Stewart to Ollie Robinson at first slip.

Dan Lawrence made nine before his off-stump was yorked by Daniel Bell-Drummond but Jack Leaning was then denied a wicket when Critchley was dropped by Ben Compton at short leg, leaving Essex 207-3 at tea.

Westley was run-out soon after the resumption, with Critchley having steered Harry Podmore - who got a late call into Kent’s squad - towards third man. Having comfortably strolled two, Westley inexplicably set off for the keeper’s end and was inches short when Kent captain Sam Billings gathered Joe Denly’s throw and broke the wicket.

At that point, Kent were well in the game, but the visitors responded with another substantial century stand.

Khushi joined Critchley and they comfortably saw off the new ball before batting through the close.

Kent head coach Matt Walker said: “It was a long day. The shift back into four-day cricket is always a challenge.

"It had promise, that was the main thing. We started OK and I think conditions actually suited us, I think that wicket had more than it’s had in it all season actually and we just didn’t quite utilise the new ball as we’d have liked. There was an opportunity there to make some early inroads and they never got away from us, but we never quite managed to build-up the pressure and get enough momentum.

“We beat the bat a few times but never quite put it all together. I thought Matt Quinn was excellent, we just couldn’t quite back it up enough to create more chances.

"We stuck with [it], the effort was there, but at 220-4, just before the new ball, if we could have nicked a couple there, it would have set us up really nicely for the second new ball.

"The second new ball didn’t really go our way at all. We didn’t look the threat [we] were in that first hour or two of the day. From that point to the end of the day, it was disappointing.

"Seven down is probably where we would have liked to have been but they got away from us with that partnership at the back-end of the day. There was a lot of huff and puff and some good effort, but not the outcome we would have liked.

"Sam Billings has got a soft tissue injury, which is very unusual for him, he doesn't really suffer with those sorts of injuries but he felt a pop and we'll just have to monitor it and see where he is tomorrow morning.

"It's not particularly promising unfortunately.”