JONNY Bairstow and Tim Bresnan starred as Yorkshire took charge of their LV= County Championship match against Durham during a dreamy second day for the statisticians at Emirates Durham.

The seventh-wicket pair shattered record after record on the way to a stand of 366 inside 81 overs as the visitors amassed 557-6 declared in the latter stages of the afternoon.

Durham were then restricted to 140-5 from 42 overs by the close.

Bairstow hit a career best 219 off 268 balls with 31 fours and a pulled six, while Bresnan also record the best of his five first-class centuries to date, a 256-ball 169 with 27 fours.

Coming together just after tea on day one, they were united for five hours of play to fashion a recovery from 191-6.

They recorded the third highest seventh-wicket stand in first-class history and the best ever in county cricket, beating the 344 shared by Sussex pair Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji and Billy Newham against Essex at Leyton in 1902.

Their partnership was also the highest on this ground and the best against Durham.

It was Yorkshire’s fifth highest first-class stand of all time for any wicket, with the top four all being for the first wicket.

And Yorkshire became the first team in the Championship to pass 500 in an innings this summer.

Both players gave reminders to the England selectors of their credentials, although Bairstow is a more realistic candidate for this summer’s Ashes series.

The 25-year-old has scored 636 runs in eight Championship innings this season and averages 106. He is surely the next cab off the rank if there is an injury to a frontline batsman.

Durham then slumped to 81-5 soon after tea. Steve Patterson struck twice and Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom and Bresnan took one wicket once apiece.

Bresnan’s wicket came with just his fourth ball when he yorked Gordon Muchall for a second-ball duck in the 24th over. Ryan Pringle and Scott Borthwick shared an unbroken 59 through to close.