John Crawley paid tribute to the fit again Alan Mullally and the rest of his bowling attack after the first day of his home debut as captain against promotion favourites Yorkshire.

Crawley made a good start, winning his first Rose Bowl toss as Hampshire skipper, and he was backed up by his bowlers when play eventually began after lunch.

Mullally was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3-22 from his 14 overs, but it was home debutant Wasim Akram who took the first wicket - the key scalp of Michael Vaughan.

Crawley, right, said: "Alan Mullally is getting better and better as each game goes on now that his rib has healed. Wasim bowled very good spells and definitely cranked it up a little bit for Vaughan.

"There was some swing out there for them both but Alan was just as good today. He's definitely getting more bounce and carry and is looking more comfortable , he doesn't have to yank himself out of bed in the morning but he's still in the early stages of getting back to match fitness.

Crawley added: "All the bowlers put in a lot of effort. There was a howling wind from one end so we had to chop and change it around a bit.

"We didn't want to bowl them into the ground today, it's a long season but they did very well and I'll be happy if we get Yorkshire all out for around 200.

"It was a little bit wet out there but we just had to get on with it. It was a good toss to win and the guys were very professional.

"The wicket didn't do as much as we thought it would and it wasn't a staright forward decision to bowl first.

"Historically, we like to bat first at the Rose Bowl but the conditions and the amount of rain meant there was only one choice.

"I'm reasonably surprised that we played, it was very wet out there and we were lucky to miss the showers that were forecast.

"We've played well in all tthe games so far but we want to get some more points on the board."