CARL HOOPER, one of Kent's finest ever overseas players, scored his maiden century for Lancashire and prevented his former team-mates from travelling home from the seaside with little more than a sun tan, stick of rock and a draw.

The ex-West Indies’ skipper stood as resolute as the Blackpool Tower in a single-minded show of defiance to stop Kent from recording their second win of the season whilst preventing Lancashire’s first defeat.

After sending down 51 overs in Kent’s mammoth innings of 602 for six declared – their best ever total against Lancashire - Hooper strapped on the pads to hit 60 in the red rose county’s first innings of 365 all out.

His efforts, coupled with a stylish 114 from Mark Chilton, could not prevent Lancashire from following on but, with his side deep in trouble at 12 for three second time around, Hooper sidled to the Stanley Park crease to remind Kent and their supporters just what they have been missing.

On a pitch showing some signs of wear and variable bounce, the Guyanan right-hander played with due deference against a Kent attack with their tails up.

Martin Saggers had just bagged three for five in three overs. His first ball rolled back onto the stumps without dislodging the bails, he played and missed at a brace of Mark Ealham away swingers and got hit on the knee by an Andrew Symonds shooter.

He appeared a little hesitant in compiling his 50 from 126 balls in a shade under three hours and enjoyed let-offs on 24 and 53, though both would have been magnificent catches, they ultimately proved the difference between a Kent win and a dogged draw.

Hooper’s first life came off Ealham when Symonds dropped a tracer, one-handed at short extra cover when diving to his right.

Then Symonds was the bowler when Hooper, cutting at one a little too close to the body, edged to the right of Geraint Jones for the Kent keeper to down a tough chance.

Kent never had a sniff of a chance thereafter as Hooper took command to score his 23rd century in championship cricket – the previous 22 having been in Kent colours.

He took 14 off one Tredwell over and went to his ton by crashing a short-one from the same bowler to the ropes at cover to post three figures from the 191st ball of his stay.

With his skipper Warren Hegg looking rock solid at the other end, Hooper relaxed and opened his shoulders in celebration thereafter hitting Ferley and Tredwell for a brace of sixes each, the last of which took Lancashire into the lead.

The hosts had reached 244 for six – a slender lead of seven – with Hooper undefeated on 128 when Hegg and David Fulton shook hands on the draw.

Though Fulton bagged 12 points from the game to Hegg’s nine, the Kent skipper was left thinking what might have been had he not batted on so long, or had they not lost 46 overs to rain on Thursday.

Sadly, Kent’s only innings of the game ended late Wednesday afternoon to the sounds of slow hand-clapping as the visitors made somewhat ponderous progress.

On day one, a sizeable Blackpool crowd and England selector Geoff Miller had been privileged to watch some productive and attacking Kent batting from Ed Smith.

After the early loss of Rob Key, Smith, fresh from three Maidstone Festival Week centuries, teamed up with Fulton to score 122 for the second wicket with the Kent skipper contributing a battling, yet streaky 47.

Hooper accounted for Fulton as the first of his three for 147 return then Andrew Symonds, playing his last innings before jetting of on international duty against Bangladesh, got himself out for 10.

That bought together Smith and Walker for a fourth wicket stand worth 196 in 51 overs and one awesome display of strokeplay.

True, the pitch was slow and not taking spin, and Lancashire were without James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff and their early-season tormentor Gary Keedy, but in this form I doubt whether Smith or Walker cared.

Hooper was again the bowler when Smith caressed a drive through the covers to reach his maiden first-class double century from 255 balls with 35 fours and a six.

But two balls later, Hooper got one to shoot, beat Smith’s back-foot defensive shot and hit the base of off stump.

Mark Ealham came in to fill his boots on this slow Stanley Park pitch while Walker went on to reach his season’s best on Thursday as the pair added 142 for the fifth wicket.

Walker was finally "conned by Hooper after batting 370 minutes for his 150 then Ealham, just five short of his second century of the summer, holed out in the deep to give occasional spinner Mal Loye his first ever wicket.

Fulton declared soon after, thinking two days and a session should be more than enough to force a win, but he had not counted on Thursday’s rain or Hooper’s excellence.