Will Jefferson hit his first hundred in first-class cricket since 2005 as Nottinghamshire enjoyed some profitable batting time on day one against Oxford UCCE.

The giant right-hander hit 133 as Notts totalled 346-7 declared in 102 overs, with Alex Hales making an unbeaten 53 and Samit Patel 45.

Jefferson then handed Mark Footitt a wicket as the students closed on 42-1 off 12 overs, still 304 behind.

Skipper Paul Franks chose to bat after winning the toss, with Notts looking for as much batting practice as possible for their batsmen.

But Bilal Shafayat and Matt Wood both fell cheaply on a slow pitch and Jefferson progressed steadily against defensive fields.

Patel and Franks both made starts without reaching 50, and when Kevin O’Brien was bowled for 13, Notts were only 239-5 as they looked to up the tempo.

Jefferson hit only eight fours in his 229-ball innings and said: “Oxford put a sweeper out on the off-side almost as soon as I arrived at the crease to try and stop the boundaries, but I wasn’t too fussed by that to be honest.

“I needed time in the middle to get my eye in and get some confidence. I think in general I’ve under-performed this season - I’ve been batting in the middle order in one-day cricket which is new to me, and on occasion we’ve been in tricky situations.

“I’ve had a few decent scores but some of those haven’t counted for much as we didn’t win the matches. But I’ve felt in good nick without necessarily building on some good starts.

“It was good to have four and a half hours in the middle and we’re in a good position to move the game on from here. Ideally we would be looking to get a second innings in and maximise the batting time for the rest of the team.”