Trescothick and Cooper centuries frustrate Lancashire at Taunton.

Lancashire’s three-day friendly against Somerset ended in a draw as the hosts batted without harm on the final day at Taunton to reach 344 for the loss of just one wicket.

Marcus Trescothick (107) and Tom Cooper (102) both made unbeaten centuries and shared an unbroken stand worth 139 runs before the Somerset captain voluntarily ended his innings.

Somerset made the most of a batsman’s paradise, while Lancashire toiled in the heat for little reward, although in truth there had been little in the pitch all day and indeed since Lancashire had began to pile on the runs yesterday afternoon.

Jim Allenby followed the example set by his teammates retiring unbeaten on 53, as Somerset’s middle order helped guide the hosts into the lead before the players shook hands just before five o’clock.

The day began with Somerset 291 runs behind their visitors and at least two out of three results remained possible, but it became apparent very quickly that Lancashire were in for a long day in the field.

The tone of the day was set when the ball bobbled over a diving Luke Procter at mid-on early on and this summarised the visitors misfortune thereafter, as Trescothick escaped an early lbw appeal from Kyle Jarvis and then a top-edge which landed safely.

Johann Myburgh and Trescothick made steady progress as they added 50 runs for the first wicket partnership, but the former was back in the pavilion three balls after Somerset had reached a half-century.

More than five hours before the players would eventually shake hands, Jarvis collected the first and only wicket of the day as he managed to squeeze the ball between bat and pad to remove Myburgh lbw for 22.

Jarvis (1-83) bowled with pace and vigour – that is not to say the other Lancashire seam bowlers did not – but his early season display was promising from a bowler who last year described his introduction into county cricket as something of a wake-up-call.

Somerset approached the 100-run mark as captain Trescothick continued to play trademark cover drives and late cuts to frustrate Lancashire’s bowlers and his innings gained authority when he easily shook off a nasty knock to the elbow which could have forced him to retire sooner.

A short while afterwards the veteran opening batsman earned a crowd-pleasing fifty in just 67 deliveries, the overwhelming majority of his runs coming from the eleven times he had found the fence, as he and Cooper also made a 50 partnership.

The hosts had suffered a monumental collapse in their first innings after falling from 112/1 to 208 all out, but no such capitulation was on the cards this afternoon as they continued to erode Lancashire’s hefty lead. 

Trescothick and Cooper brought up the 100 partnership after the lunchtime interval as both batsmen continued to see the ball brilliantly – like a beach ball, as it were.

The odd sighting off a mistimed drive flying through the slip corden proved to be the closest Lancashire came to claiming a second wicket and even when this happened the ball invariably went for yet another boundary.

A true professional, Trescothick brought up his century in magnificent style, launching Simon Kerrigan over the player’s pavilion for six as he reached his ton in 126 balls with 19 fours in addition to the huge six he had hit moments before a muted acknowledgement of the crowds applause.

The Somerset captain then left the field with 107 runs to his name, allowing Allenby some valuable time at the crease after he had managed just one run in the first innings.

Cooper replicated Trescothick reaching his half-century with a six off Kerrigan, this time over long-off, as the Australian-born Dutch batsman reached fifty in 85 balls. He continued to tuck in to Kerrigan’s spin as he took Somerset within 50 runs of Lancashire’s lead with another six, one which edged his score towards a deserved hundred.

He then achieved this milestone in 123 balls, playing the ball through backward point for his fourteenth boundary as he accelerated in the second half of his innings, scoring his second fifty in just 38 balls.

Cooper then joined Trescothick in the changing rooms as he left the field on 102, allowing Alex Barrow (22) to have a practice against Lancashire’s dejected bowling attack.

Somerset entered tea on 275/1 with the match drifting further and further into an archetypal pre-season friendly on a wicket which offered next to zero assistance for the bowlers.

The hosts moved into the lead after the interval and Allenby made an effortless fifty in 58 deliveries before he became the third and final Somerset batsman to retire.

Barrow and Peter Trego (28) enjoyed a late surge of runs with the latter hitting two sixes and as many fours before the players called time on a long day for all concerned, particularly the visitors. Lancashire start another pre-season friendly against Leeds/Bradford MCCU this Sunday at Emirates Old Trafford.