LONDON, July 16: Kent batsman Ed Smith on Tuesday became the first player to make 1,000 first-class runs in England this season.

Smith made a career-best 203, on the opening day of his team’s first division county championship match away to Lancashire at Blackpool, having needed 194 at the start of play to reach the 1,000-run milestone.

A four off medium-pacer John Wood took Smith, 25, to the landmark. But shortly after posting the maiden double-century of his first-class career, Smith was bowled by the off-spin of former West Indies captain Carl Hooper.

His 257-ball innings featured one six and 35 fours,

At stumps, Kent were well-placed at 384 for four.

Smith has now scored four centuries in his last five county championship innings.

Former England Under-19 batsman Smith went into the match with scores of 135 against champions Surrey, 149 and 113 against Nottinghamshire — and in between he also made 126 against Glamorgan in a one-day National League fixture.

His previous best first-class score was the 190 he made for Cambridge University against Leicestershire in 1997.

Close of play scores on Tuesday:

(first day of four):

DIVISION ONE:

At Blackpool: Kent 384-4 in 107 overs (E. Smith 203, M. Walker 92 not out) v Lancashire.

At Grace Road: Leicestershire 320 in 85.5 overs (P.A.J. DeFreitas 103, D.I. Stevens 51; Mushtaq Ahmed 5-93); Sussex 50-0 in 16 overs.

At Southgate: Warwickshire 315-7 in 105 overs (D.R. Brown 113, T. Frost 84; A.A. Noffke 3-53) v Middlesex.

DIVISION TWO:

At Riverside: Yorkshire 340-6 in 104 overs (A. McGrath 86, C. White 82 not out, A. Gray 60 not out) v Durham.

At The Rose Bowl: Glamorgan 426-8 in 101.5 overs (M.P. Maynard 129, A. Dale 123; S.M. Katich 3-82) v Hampshire.

At New Road: Derbyshire 163 in 44.2 overs (M. Mason 5-43); Worcestershire 136-6 in 51.2 overs (D.G. Cork 3-25).—AFP/Reuters