GARY Ballance and Tom Kohler-Cadmore both hit half-centuries during a healthy Yorkshire batting performance on day one of their two-day friendly against a young Derbyshire side at the Incora County Ground today.

Ballance’s second score of 52 in four days - he reached that against Middlesex on Monday - came after opener Kohler-Cadmore had hit nine fours and a six to post 56 in the White Rose’s 250-7 from 60 overs.

The pair were two of four batsmen to retire out, the others being opener Tom Loten for 32 and Harry Brook for 48.

Derbyshire then batted out the final 30 overs of the day to finish on 61-1. Matthew Waite picked up the only wicket to fall.

Yorkshire are fielding a side filled with first-team certainties, possibles and probables, with Dom Bess part of the travelling party despite not being involved in the game.

Derby will bat for the first 60 overs of day two before the White Rose see out the game with another 30 overs of batting practice.

Derby Academy bowler Jonny Lawrence claimed two of the three wickets to fall, bowling David Willey and getting Waite caught for five and four respectively in the 55th over of the innings. Earlier, BJ Hutchinson had trapped Will Fraine lbw for 24.

Derbyshire’s team includes a few players with first-team experience in Brooke Guest, Tom Wood, Leus du Plooy, new signing George Scrimshaw, Anuj Dal and Mattie McKiernan.

On the scorecard provided, their eleven also includes an F Player, a marvellous pre-season sporting pseudonym to go alongside the legendary A Trialist.

Even B Guest could be thrown into that category, but in this case he is genuine. Guest is the former Australia Under 19s wicketkeeper batsman signed from Lancashire last season.

Derby are fielding a much stronger side in a two-day game at Leicestershire, just as Yorkshire did at Middlesex on Monday and Tuesday while the youngsters hosted Durham back at Emerald Headingley.

Openers Kohler-Cadmore and Loten shared 76 in 19 overs, with the former reaching 50 off 45 balls with a six against leg-spinner McKiernan. He retired out three balls later.

Loten did the same at lunch before Ballance and Brook shared 68 to advance from 102-2.

Ballance reached his fifty off 83 balls against his former county and retired out immediately. Brook, with nine fours in 54 balls, did likewise two runs short of the same milestone.

Openers Guest and Wood then made a bright start to Derbyshire’s innings after tea, sharing 46 inside 14 overs.

Wood led their partnership with 26 before being trapped lbw by Waite, who struck at the end of his second over.

The remaining 16 overs of the day then yielded only another 15 runs as Willey, Waite, captain Steve Patterson and Jack Shutt all tightened the screw.

Ben Coad, Matthew Fisher, Willey, Waite, Patterson and Shutt all bowled five overs apiece. Guest finished on 21 not out and du Plooy unbeaten on 10.

New signing Bess has linked up with the Yorkshire squad in Derby following his time off after England’s New Year Test tour of Sri Lanka and then India.

But the off-spinning all-rounder is just there to train and not play.