Marcus Trescothick's (129*) 60th first-class century helped Somerset to secure a hard-fought draw against Lancashire on the final day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Taunton.
The veteran batsman and captain Chris Rogers (75*) added an unbeaten partnership worth 168 runs for the third-wicket partnership to deny Lancashire their second four-day win in as many matches, finishing on 229/2.
Somerset's old and new captains combined superbly, using their wealth of international experience to guide the home side to safety on the final day, with the players shaking hands at 4.50pm. With more than 48,000 first-class runs between them the former England and Australia opening batsman made formidable opponents for Lancashire, with little on offer for the seamers on a sunny day, with a typically batsman-friendly Taunton wicket assisting the quality of Somerset's batsmen.
Entering the final day of this match still trailing by 180 runs after being asked to follow-on by Lancashire, Somerset had a very clear task ahead of them; survival. Somerset's strength over the last few seasons has undoubtedly been their batting and they were able to call upon two of the best batsmen of a generation to deny Lancashire victory.
Even with the international class of James Anderson, Kyle Jarvis and Neil Wagner, the pitch offered minimal assistance for fast bowling, with only Simon Kerrigan's left-arm spin coming close to troubling the experienced Somerset batsmen.
After scoring 493/9 declared in their first and only innings of the game, Lancashire entered Day Four needing to take all ten second-innings wickets to confirm their second win of the season, but it was the sort of day where only a minor miracle would have helped them in their cause for victory.
Finding the first Somerset wicket was always likely to be straightforward, with nightwatchman Tim Groenewald (5) occupying the crease from last night. He faced out a maiden to Anderson on the third evening of this match, but it was not long before the Red Rose had their first breakthrough. Groenewald could do nothing to keep out a good length delivery from Jarvis (1-26), one that sent his off-stump cartwheeling, as Somerset lost their first wicket at 13/1.
Having been protected by Groenewald yesterday, Tom Abell (10) applied his typically determined approach to assist Trescothick in his bid to hold up Lancashire's ferocious seam attack. Abell, a batsman who plays very orthodox shots for a player of only 22 years of age, was able to pick out the bad balls and frustrate the opposition, with the seam bowlers proving to be largely ineffective in the first hour and, in hindsight, most of the match.
Much like Somerset's first innings, spin appeared to carry the greatest threat and Kerrigan's leg-spin was called upon to dismiss the determined Somerset youngster, who got a leading edge back to Kerrigan (1-71), offering a simple return catch after Abell and Trescothick had added 48 runs for the second wicket.
This proved to be the final glimpse of success for Lancashire, as Trescothick and Rogers used their vast experience to dig in and defy Kerrigan, who was impressive and disciplined, despite the lack of success or encouragement he encountered on Day Four.
40-year-old Trescothick reached his 119th first-class fifty in 83 balls just before lunch, with signs of his international expertise shining through, although his timing was not always perfect, especially when he mistimed or simply failed to lay bat on his favoured sweep shot to the spinners.
As the afternoon session developed, the game started to drift further and further away from Lancashire, who could do little to extract even a half chance against two quality cricketers. Rogers was determined not to lose his wicket and so his approach was rather turgid and fitting of the situation, but if a bad ball presented itself he was happy to carve it to the boundary.
With 646 first-class appearances between them, Trescothick and Rogers achieved the hundred-partnership deep into the afternoon session, knowing that they had done enough and taken enough time out of the game to secure a draw for their side. Both players were approaching personal milestones before tea, but it was Rogers who went to his first, securing his second fifty of the match in 147 balls.
Early indications suggest that Somerset have acquired Rogers still very much in the peak of his abilities, after he recorded a Test-best 173 against England at Lord's last summer. Having scored 127 against Surrey at The Oval last week, becoming Somerset's second highest run-scorer of all time in the process, Trescothick then registered back-to-back hundreds, moving to his 60th first-class century in 196 deliveries.
Somerset reached tea on 178/2, needing only two runs to ensure that Lancashire would have to bat again, although the impressive partnership between Trescothick and Rogers had long since made a draw the only plausible result to come from the match.
In the 50 minutes after tea, Somerset continued to frustrate Lancashire, finally overturning the first-innings lead of 180 held by the Red Rose, but the game had long been cemented as a draw, with Haseeb Hameed bowling one over of off-spin before the players shook hands at Taunton.
Lancashire return to Emirates Old Trafford for their next match in the County Championship, as they prepare to take on Hampshire in a match that starts on Sunday May 8.
County Championship points: Somerset 9, Lancashire 11.
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