Director of Cricket, David Byas, described Yorkshire's performance as "absolute rubbish" after it took them only 100 minutes yesterday morning to slump to a ten-wicket defeat against Somerset at Scarborough.

But Byas said he was still confident that Yorkshire could battle their way back into the Championship promotion race.

Somerset required just six for their first victory of the season after Yorkshire's last seven wickets had crashed for 97 runs and the only crumb of comfort was that acting captain, Matthew Wood, became the first player to carry his bat for the county since Geoff Boycott against Surrey at Abbeydale Park in 1985.

Wood's unbeaten 66 out of a sorry total of 160 included five fours and a six and came off 109 balls. It was his sixth half-century in seven consecutive Championship innings.

With the large crowd left grumbling in the sun following Yorkshire's surrender, Byas said: "I would like to stress that the groundsman prepared an outstanding four-day pitch and we would have died to win the toss, which we did.

"The game was lost in the first innings because if we had batted as we should have done we would have declared just before tea on the second day with 600 on the board. To be out for 296 was just criminal.

"The pitch was beginning to turn when we resumed today and if we had played as we should have done then conditions would just have been right for leg-spinner Mark Lawson to come into his own in his debut game.

"But you would not expect an international pace attack like ours is to give away 180 and 190 runs in two sessions. It was woeful.

"Matthew Wood deserves praise for his two innings but we are too often dependent on Darren Lehmann. Other batsmen should also be going out and making their mark."

The day began disastrously for Yorkshire when Nixon McLean produced a beauty in his first over which nipped back and trimmed Ian Harvey's bails.

This was followed by a tremendous assault by Lehmann on paceman, Simon Francis, whom he clattered for 32 off 11 balls with six fours, a six and a two.

But Francis soon gave way to off-spinner Keith Dutch and Lehmann mis-drove his second ball high to mid-on where Francis made no mistake with the catch.

Wood continued to fight hard but the procession continued at the other end, Dutch finishing with five for 26 and McLean five for 45 to give the West Indian match figures of 11 for 124.

Yorkshire have a chance to redeem themselves tomorrow when they again meet Somerset at Scarborough in Division Two of the totesport League.

Their last match against Durham Dynamos a fortnight ago had to be abandoned because of bad weather and since then leaders Middlesex Crusaders have lost two consecutive matches but remain top, ten points ahead of Phoenix, who have two games in hand.

Somerset are languishing in eighth place but after their Championship performance Yorkshire will be treating them with the greatest respect.

Yorkshire will choose from the same team just beaten, plus paceman Tim Bresnan and off-spinner Andy Gray.

* David Fulton produced only his second championship hundred of the season before Kent faltered after a promising start against neighbours Sussex in perfect batting conditions at Hove.

Skipper Fulton displayed great concentration for nearly six hours in compiling 122 as Kent slipped from 228 for three at tea to close on 300 for eight.

On a fine batting pitch, defending champions Sussex, desperate for a win to ward off relegation fears, stuck to their task and spinners Mark Davis and Mushtaq Ahmed shared six wickets in the last session.

Fulton, dropped on 45 by Davis off Robin Martin-Jenkins, shared in a century stand for the second wicket with Ed Smith (79) and stroked 14 boundaries in his 283-ball vigil before becoming Mushtaq's first victim.