Ben Compton scored a maiden first-class century in England as Kent’s game at Essex heads towards a draw.

Compton produced a knock of 129 while Jordan Cox was unbeaten on 100 at Chelmsford.

Kent (405-5) closed 109 runs behind Essex (514) with a day to play.

South African-born Compton is the 13th man to score three figures on their first-class debut for the county and he was delighted.

He said: “I’m very thrilled to get that score. I just wanted to spend time out there and take everything in - the wicket, being in a new environment.

“I was glad to get the team off to a good start and spend time out there, those were the things I was looking to do. It’s nice to put in practice the things I’d worked hard (on) in the winter.

“My job is to give everything I can to try and get involved. It’s a long road and it’s by no means a sunny day and there will be ups and downs over the summer. But I’m thrilled and it hasn’t really sunk in yet, to be honest.

"I’m sure over time I will look back over the innings and be very fond of it. You have to enjoy these moments, so I will. On a personal level it’s great to feel that backing from the club, feel that support. I’m glad I’ve repaid that to some extent.

“I went away this winter and it did a lot for my cricket. I played in Zimbabwe and both the cricketing experience and the life experience, being in a different part of the world, was good for me and stood me in good stead for this first game.”

His previous highest score in this country was 20, for Nottinghamshire last season. On his Kent debut he produced a patient 129 as his new team closed in on Essex’s mammoth first-innings 514.

Once Kent overhauled the follow-on target with only four wickets down, the draw became inevitable with a day to play despite Cox weighing in with the fifth century of the match. He was unbeaten on 100 at the close.

With a mixture of sound defence and occasional belligerence, Compton proved a veritable thorn in Essex’s attempt to capitalise on their batting performance.

He needed 15 deliveries to move off his overnight score, though a well-time pull off Shane Snater also took him to fifty. Tawanda Muyeye followed to his own half-century shortly after with a crisp drive through the covers.

The second-wicket pair had put on 121 in 43 overs when Matt Critchley drew Muyeye (58) forward, no shot being offered, to claim his maiden Essex wicket with the inevitable lbw.

Compton was particularly harsh on Dan Lawrence, who strayed down leg in his first over. Compton flicked two fours off his legs and added a third through mid-wicket from a full toss to move swiftly through the 70s into the 80s.

He turned Critchley for the two that took him to three figures from 220 balls shortly after lunch.

Compton’s marathon innings ended when beaten by a Sam Cook delivery that kept low and he couldn’t jab his bat down quickly enough. He had faced 289 balls and hit 19 fours.

Cox was the more aggressive in the pair’s 123-run third-wicket stand, sending his innings into overdrive with three fours in two overs from Jamie Porter and generally pulling and driving with relish.

Critchley claimed a second wicket when Ollie Robinson (12) was trapped in front, before Cox and Darren Stevens embarked on a cavalier 82-run partnership in 20 overs that scattered the field far and wide. Stevens became the seventh player in the match to pass fifty, but two balls later he thick-edged Lawrence to Sir Alastair Cook at first slip.

All that was left was for Cox to scamper a quick single in the penultimate over of the day to reach the second hundred of his career.