Mayank Agarwal falls for duck on debut as "very poor" Yorkshire CCC trip up in Taunton

He was duly dismissed for a golden duck, pushing too hard at a ball from Lewis Gregory, the Somerset seamer, which flew to Tom Abell at third slip.

Agarwal did not need to play at the delivery which pitched outside off stump and so ended his first innings in first-class cricket for over seven months after Yorkshire signed him for the last three games.

Agarwal was the second of three wickets to fall in the space of six balls as Yorkshire stumbled on a sun-kissed morning.

Gregory, the 33-year-old Somerset captain, had dispatched Fin Bean with the previous delivery, a good one that slanted across the left-hander and ended up in the gloves of James Rew via an outside edge.

When James Wharton - having survived Gregory’s hat-trick ball - was bowled shouldering arms to seamer Josh Davey, Yorkshire had gone from 17-0 at the start of the day to 33-3.

They had reached 134-9 by the time hands were shaken at 4.20pm, grateful that just 36 of the 96 overs were possible on day four as they replied to Somerset’s 441-6 declared.

"I think we've had a very poor week, and I think the rain’s probably saved us, if I'm being honest,” said Anthony McGrath, the Yorkshire head coach, whose side lost more overs in this match (219) than they had in all formats this season going into the game (182.3).

"We won the toss, we had the best conditions but, from having them 30-2 on the first day, we’ve been very poor.

“Look, sometimes it can happen; it's not a lack of trying, and the strides we've made lately and how we’ve played as a team, bowling in partnerships, batting in partnerships, we've done the absolute opposite this week.

"So, yeah, we've got out with a draw, which I think bigger picture-wise is important with what's going on around the country, and it’s just one of those that we’ve got to put behind us and make sure we’re ready come Monday (against Sussex at Hove).”

Yorkshire hope to have Matt Milnes back for that game after a groin injury but fellow pace bowler Ben Coad (hamstring) is not quite ready.

"Ben's a little bit behind so he won’t be ready for Sussex,” said McGrath. "Matt will, I think, so he'll travel with us and unless something major happens, he should be fine to play, which is a great boost.

“Ben will stay back at Headingley next week and hopefully be ready for the last game against Durham.”

After the three-wickets-in-six-balls burst at the start of the day, the sequence extended to four wickets in 21 deliveries when Jonny Bairstow pushed forward at Davey and was caught at first slip by Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

Bairstow had earlier undergone treatment for a bizarre injury to his left elbow when Adam Lyth accidentally bumped into him with his bat as they ran between the wickets.

Yorkshire then fell to 52-5 when Matty Revis played a shot he would surely take back in a flash, swishing at a wide one from medium-pacer Ben Green to give Rew another catch behind the stumps.

Following a 15-minute delay caused by a shower, Yorkshire lost their sixth wicket to the sixth ball after the restart, George Hill adjudged lbw pushing forward to Jack Leach, the left-arm spinner, whose fifth delivery it was from the River End, although it seemed that it might conceivably have been drifting down the leg-side.

If that worked in Somerset’s favour, then the hosts were aggrieved when they thought they had Lyth caught at slip in Leach’s next over.

Replays were inconclusive as to whether or not it was a bump ball but what was beyond doubt was that it was a magnificent grab by Kasey Aldridge, who thrust out a left hand in reflex style.

The weather, however, was a constant threat in terms of a forecast that promised more rain.

The skies had just started to cloud over at the time of the Lyth incident and moments later the players were off, rain forcing an early lunch at 12.20pm, with Yorkshire a sorry 60-6 in the 19th over.

Sunshine and showers then took it in turns, toying with players, umpires and the handful of spectators, before the action resumed at 3pm.

It took Somerset just five balls to capture the seventh wicket, Dom Bess edging behind off Green.

Thompson arrived to provide some entertainment, twice lofting Archie Vaughan for six en route to a 42-ball fifty that also contained eight fours.

He had contributed 57 to a stand of 68 with Lyth when he became Davey’s third victim, trapped on the crease, before Lyth was ninth out when he turned Leach to short-leg after grafting for over two-and-a-half hours.