Despite heavy rain wiping out the second half of the day Nottinghamshire had enough reasons to be satisfied with their progress on the second day of the LV= county championship match against Somerset at Taunton.

Luke Fletcher and Harry Gurney shared the spoils, putting on fifty for the final wicket as Notts extended their first innings to 378 all out.

Gurney then removed Marcus Trescothick early in the reply but Nick Compton and Chris Jones took the score to 70 for one before play was called off for the day.

Fletcher was eventually last man out, for 58 – an innings that clearly delighted him. “After losing Ajmal, Harry and myself enjoyed a good partnership and he kept me going. I thought we worked well together.

“We played it ball-by-ball at first with me trying to face as many deliveries as I could but Harry backed himself so we then decided to take every run that we could. Getting to the 350 and the extra point was the most pleasing thing but I was very happy to get another fifty myself, after that had been achieved.”

Ajmal Shahzad (35) and Fletcher were at the crease as the morning session began in dry conditions, after heavy overnight rain.

Peter Trego opened up with the ball and achieved almost instant success. After three away-swingers had been left alone, the bowler brought one back to knock over Shahzad’s unprotected off stump.

Gurney edged Steve Kirby to the third man fence to get his innings under way but then began to flourish with a succession of fine shots.

With his partner looking confident, Fletcher also began to unload – he clipped Trego to the fine leg fence then hit the seamer back over his head to bring up a fourth batting point.

A bouncer from Kirby was emphatically pulled for six, over the furthest boundary at backward square leg to take Fletcher to his second championship fifty of the summer (51 balls, 9x4, 1x6).

Gurney, whose previous Nottinghamshire best was only 9 not out, sailed beyond that and was unbeaten on 22 when the innings eventually ended.

Shortly after the pair had added fifty for the tenth wicket Fletcher (58) gloved a Jamie Overton bouncer to give Craig Kieswetter his fourth catch of the innings.

Notts’ final two wickets had added 108 valuable runs.

Fletcher and Gurney’s performance with the bat extended into their start with the ball, each beginning with two maidens against Marcus Trescothick and Nick Compton.

Trescothick, back after an ankle injury which had been tested during a knock of 250 for the Somerset seconds earlier in the week, didn’t last long.

Having made only 2 he edged Gurney to third slip. where Steven Mullaney took a sharp catch.

“It’s always nice to pick up an early wicket when you’ve got runs on the board,” said Gurney. “Obviously it’s a bonus if the wicket is a world class player like Trescothick.”

Compton and Chris Jones extended the total to 20-1 before a sharp shower ended the morning session twenty minutes early.

A further fifty runs were added in an hour after lunch, without too many difficulties, before the rain again returned and by 4pm the conditions had become unplayable.