Lancashire 422 for 9 (Petersen 155, Croft 58, Livingstone 57, Hameed 56) trail Somerset 553 for 6 dec (Trego 154*, Abell 135, Davies 86, Trescothick 60, Bailey 5-111) by 131 runsScorecard The praise should not be faint if the achievement is substantial. Professional competence matters as much in sport as in any other occupation, even if sport is a sui generis branch of the entertainment industry. So Alviro Petersens innings of 155 on this pitiless slab of Mancunian turf deserves all the credit which will be paid to it over the next day or so.Presented with the task of helping Lancashire score 404 to avoid the possibility of being asked to follow on by Somerset, Petersen did more than his share of the hard work needed to achieve that objective. He was present at the wicket while 283 of those runs were added and had made over 37.5% of the 404 with his own bat when he inside-edged Tim Groenewald on to his pad and was caught by Marcus Trescothick at slip just after tea.The handshakes Petersen received from at least four Somerset players when he was dismissed said something about the quality and value of his 255-ball innings and perhaps more about the players who congratulated him. Petersens drives through cover, his cuts backward of square and his two straight sixes off Jack Leach, the second of which brought up his century, had denied Chris Rogers and his men at a vital stage of the season. His composure and Test experience had been put to good use in century partnerships, first with Liam Livingstone and then with Steven Croft, with whom he added 157, a stand which all but shut the victory door in Somersets faces.There was a brief flutter among home supporters when Croft was caught at slip in the over after Petersens dismissal and again when the ailing Luke Procter was leg before to Craig Overton for 2 ten overs later, but Jordan Clark and Kyle Jarvis scored the 17 runs then needed to see Lancashire to 404. This made making Lewis Gregorys three late wickets no more than a statistical footnote although they were also as a reflection of the bowlers late efforts, aided, perhaps, by a bit of reverse swing.Even if a weather forecast which would find a place in the Book of Ezekiel proves to be false, this game is likely to be very drawn indeed. Groundsmen are encouraged to produced four-day pitches but this rascal might last four public readings of Proust. The cricket played on it was therefore a little slow at times, as is often the case when one big score is followed by another. Certainly it drove some Somerset bowlers to distraction and Rogers attack must have wondered what they had done to offend the games gods when one decent leg before shout after another was turned down.It was some reflection of Somersets predicament when Rogers, himself, who had previously bowled 242 balls in his entire first-class career, sent down the over before tea. However, he could not add to his single first-class wicket, which is that of Stuart Broad, whom the Australian dismissed when he was playing for Northants and Broad for Leicestershire.Yet Lancashire supporters, sitting in statuesque calm in the old pavilion enjoyed it all, as they had a full right to do, although someone observed that it might have enlivened the afternoon session if Los del Rio had blasted out from the Point and the cool dudes in the 1864 Suite had given everyone a few minutes of the macarena.Instead of which, we had Petersen and Croft, the first batting with silky ease, the second with hard-arsed defiance, taking their team towards safety and at least putting to bed memories of their countys miserable surrender against Surrey last week. Faced with the accuracy of Leach, who has plainly outbowled Simon Kerrigan in this game, Lancashire fourth-wicket pair earned their money and saved their side embarrassment, if not worse.All of this was important both in the context of the game and because it may have helped the development of that most promising cricketer, Liam Livingstone. Croft, for example, batted with immense professional craft, despite the fact that he had kept wicket and captained in Somersets long innings. So the workhorse skipper has taken on about three jobs but may not have had to bat for very long on Friday if Livingstone, having added 37 to his overnight score, had not been caught at the wicket when playing a daft, front-foot paddle sweep to Leach.Yet this was only the third or fourth of his dozy shot selections on the third morning. The 23-year-old was pleased to be selected for representative honours earlier this season and now he is batting up the order. This was his first half-century in eight innings. Livingstone is an outstanding young talent but he may reflect that its not much good taking pride in being a Lion if you play shots that would shame a senescent okapi.Authentic Adidas Nmd . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Adidas Nmd Mens Near Me . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. http://www.nmdsneakerssale.com/yeezy-boost-350-deals.html . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Yeezy 350 Cheap Real .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Cheap Adidas Nmd White . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover.NORMAN, Okla. -- There might be a silver lining in Oklahomas season-opening loss.Houston quarterback Greg Ward shredded the Sooners in a 33-23 victory that knocked Oklahoma from No. 3 to No. 14 in the AP poll , but the Cougars might have done the Sooners a favor by showing them what they need to fix in the secondary with Ohio State looming on Sept. 17. Oklahoma will start the process Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.When you lose, its hard to look at some of those positives for us, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. In the long run, Im sure it will pay off, we hope. We recognize that when you play a team like that (Houston), it exposes some of your weaknesses immediately.Stoops said there could be changes in the secondary. Ward passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns, and the Sooners got beat deep at times and struggled to tackle. Dakota Austin and Parrish Cobb, in particular, got picked on. Stoops said P.J. Mbanasor and former receiver Michiah Quick could get serious looks this week.Its pretty open right now, Stoops said. Well see who is the most consistent player out there. We need somebody to be consistent. You arent going to win every 50-50 ball, but you have to win your share. When they (the other team) win every time, that becomes a problem.Oklahoma will face another versatile quarterback on Saturday. Louisiana-Monroes Garrett Smith passed for 208 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 150 yards and another score in a season-opening win over Southern. With Houstons success through the air, Stoops said, Oklahomas defensive backs can expect to be tested Saturday.The ball is going to keep coming, Stoops said. Thats one thing they ought to be ready for because its going to keep coming, so you just have too take it on as a personal challenge.dddddddddddd. To me, thats your pride and technique and thats why you are here. Were going to be challenged, and you have to be up for it. Well find out who is man enough for the challenge and who isnt.Houston avoided Oklahoma star cornerback Jordan Thomas and targeted the others. That makes the need for a cornerback other than Thomas to become a consistent playmaker critical.Its huge, Thomas said. That way, they (the other corners) dont feel like theyre in the hot seat. They dont have that much more stress on them to play perfect or to make a certain play here or here. I feel like its really, really crucial to our defense.All was not bad against the Cougars. Houston, a prolific running team a year ago, managed just 89 yards on 40 carries. Ward, who rushed for 1,114 yards last season, managed just one yard on 18 carries against the sooners.If you would have told me wed have held that team to 80 yards rushing and lost, I would have thought you were crazy, Stoops said. But its still finding the balance between putting all that pressure on guys that maybe cant handle it, finding ways to help.Stoops hopes the players learned a valuable lesson about preparation after falling short in that area before the Houston game.If you get too full of yourself -- and you can be overly confident and not prepare the right way -- then youre going to get humbled, he said. In this game, youre always one game, one play away from always getting humbled. Thats why you have to always stay the course and always prepare and work at it.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP ' ' '