After a hat-trick of one-day wins, Warren Hegg's side came up against their toughest opposition of the tour and only Sutcliffe, and briefly Mark Chilton, impressed.
"There were a couple of soft wickets, including a run-out," admitted manager Mike Watkinson.
"But Sutty played superbly, and Chilly looked very good before giving a catch to gully."
These two struck up a solid opening partnership last season, although Sutcliffe's campaign was disrupted by a string of injuries including a smashed cheekbone courtesy of a ball from Durham's Liam Plunkett.
The former Leicester star finished with 681 championship runs from 12 matches but in a summer when four of his team-mates topped 1000 he was far from satisified.
Since then he has spent time with Chilton in Australia and India, where they practised hard against spin.
Watkinson added: "Sutty prides himself on his fitness and he looks in really good shape."
Lancashire used seven bowlers, left arm-spinner Gary Keedy was the most successful with 3-105 from 25 overs.
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