YORKSHIRE'S bowlers were thwarted by Warwickshire opener Ian Westwood's unbeaten 151 during today's opening day of their LV= County Championship match at Headingley.

The left-hander provided the bedrock for the visitors' 270-4 from 97 overs, which also included 50 from Sam Hain but no other score higher than Will Porterfield's 35.

It was an important toss to win for Warwickshire skipper Varun Chopra, with the home dressing room without "much lady luck".

That was the phrase used by debutant off-spinner James Middlebrook, whose wicketless 15 overs cost him 47 runs.

And pick of the bowlers Tim Bresnan, with 3-39 from 19 overs, agreed: "As a team, I think we bowled unbelievable. (Restricting them to) 270 in a day, regardless of how many wickets we got, I think it's a decent shift," he said.

"I don't think we really could have done much more. If we bowl like that all year everywhere we go, we are going to take 20 wickets."

Steve Patterson was just as economical as Bresnan with 1-40 from 20.

Thirty-year-old Bresnan has taken on the new-ball duties since Ryan Sidebottom was injured during the season opener at Worcestershire and this was a very Sidebottom-esque display.

In good batting conditions, he bowled with control as well as a threat, picking up his first wicket after just three balls of the match when he had Chopra caught behind.

He later struck in his first over of the afternoon to get Porterfield caught behind and then again after tea with the second new ball as Hain was trapped lbw, ending a fourth-wicket stand of 92 with Westwood.

Bresnan has refined his approach to the crease during the winter in order to take the strain off recent injury problem areas such as back, shoulder and elbow. He added: "That's probably the best I've bowled for three or four years I reckon."

New Farnley bowler Middlebrook, meanwhile, has turned down two matches as an umpire this week to play for Yorkshire, with the 37-year-old hoping to get on the ECB's reserve list in the near future.