A SOMNOLENT scoring rate disguised the tension and sudden twists and turns in this absorbing match that is laced with the tang of ancient rivalry. It already has symptoms of every run being vital and none more so than the half-centuries accrued by Brad Hodge, Mal Loye and Iain Sutcliffe for Lancashire in response to that from Chris Read, of Nottinghamshire.

Loye supplemented his two championship hundreds in the past three matches with a curious innings laced with authentic strokes but riddled with inside edges. His was the fastest of the three fifties, off 76 balls, while Sutcliffe’s, his first of the season, was the slowest, off 123 balls in 2½ hours.

As for Hodge, he reminded Lancashire of what they will miss when commitments as vice-captain of Australia A prompt his absence for part of June and the whole of July. As it stands, Lancashire would then have no overseas player unless a replacement is signed.

Hodge, whose chanceless 82 not out came from 142 balls, stood firm while he lost three partners. Loye edged a loose drive to Read off Andrew Harris, Stuart Law chastised himself for a similar indiscretion and Luke Sutton was leg-before to Greg Smith, who limped off with a strained hamstring in the same over.

Nottinghamshire shuffled their seam bowlers before the enlistment of Graeme Swann, the off spinner, just before tea stepped up a torpid over-rate. Hodge hoisted him for a six over long-on and struck six fours in a half-century that occupied 29 overs at the crease. It counterbalanced the impression that Mark Ealham, the Nottinghamshire all-rounder, had made earlier.

The pitch allowed just enough movement to trouble the unwary and as so often since his move from Kent two summers ago, Ealham made a dual-purpose contribution, adding three for 62 to his down-the-order innings of 33 that guided Nottinghamshire towards two batting points.

Sitting in the relegation zone with two draws and two defeats has given the defending champions a serious reality check amid the rain that has followed them around.

Last season, Ealham reached fifty championship wickets in a summer for the first time in 17 years as a professional and averaged around 45 with the bat for the second successive season. At the age of 36, he has maintained his fitness, together with his unbridled enthusiasm and effectiveness, even if his bowling trajectory may be lower nowadays.

He has an uncanny knack of capturing wickets early in his frequent short spells, emphasising the point by having Mark Chilton leg-before, when playing neither forward nor back, in his first over. Ealham, bowling into a brisk wind, then dismissed Sutcliffe and Law, for a duck, in the space of nine balls during the afternoon with the help of sharp catches from Read, the second when he was standing up to the wicket.

Nottinghamshire had meandered to 253 all out from their overnight 201 for seven, a total at least 50 short of their original aspirations. Oliver Newby took a career-best four for 58 against the county with whom he was on loan for a month last summer, while Dominic Cork doubled his modest total of two wickets in three previous championship matches this season.