The Cricketer rounds up the second rain-filled day of the last round of games in Division One and Division Two
Canterbury (second day of four): Kent 147, Hampshire 80-3
The second day of Kent's Specsavers County Championship clash with Hampshire was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Canterbury.
Heavy overnight rain continued throughout the morning and though match umpires Ian Gould and Ben Debenham inspected at 1pm and 1.40pm when the showers briefly abated, the rain returned soon afterwards leading to their abandonment just before 2pm.
Hampshire will hope to resume their first innings on 80 for three, a deficit of 67, on Wednesday morning at 10.30am, although forecasters have warned of further rain in the region.
The Oval (second day of four): Surrey 248-2 v Nottinghamshire
Only two overs were bowled as bad weather dominated the second day of Surrey’s County Championship clash against Nottinghamshire at the Oval.
Following heavy rain in the morning, the teams eventually emerged to resume play at 3.45pm – only to retreat again to the pavilion soon afterwards when the ground was hit by another downpour.
During that brief interlude, Surrey added two runs to their overnight total, a leg-bye and a single to Ollie Pope nudging the home side’s score up to 248 for 2.
But, with rain giving way to a spell of thunder and lightning, umpires Chris Watts and Martin Saggers abandoned play for the day at 4.20pm.
Marchant de Lange was in among the wickets on day two
Edgbaston (second day of four): Yorkshire 261-2 v Warwickshire
No play was possible at Edgbaston on day of the County Championship match between Yorkshire and Warwickshire.
After overnight rain had been added to by a morning downpour, a partly flooded Birmingham outfield was unfit for play.
Umpires called the day off at 12:25pm, with hopes high the match can resume on Wednesday.
Chester-le-Street (second day of four): Durham 262-8 v Glamorgan
Glamorgan's slim hopes of promotion took a huge hit courtesy the weather and BJ Watling in their Specsavers County Championship Division Two clash against Durham at Emirates Riverside.
Only 15 overs of play were possible on day two due to heavy rain, although the home side were able to record two batting bonus points, while Watling notched his 17th first-class century to frustrate the Glamorgan attack.
Marchant de Lange took the two wickets to fall on day two, but Durham were able to grind out a strong platform for the rest of the game.
VISIT THE COUNTY HUB
Bristol (second day of four): Gloucestershire 80-6 v Northamptonshire
No play was possible on day two of the Specsavers County Championship match between Second Division promotion rivals Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire at Bristol.
Umpires Mike Burns and David Millns staged three inspections before deciding the outfield was unfit, finally abandoning play for the day at 3.35pm.
Gloucestershire will hope to resume their first innings on 80 for 6 in the morning, with Ben Charlesworth and Graeme van Buuren unbeaten on 35 and five respectively. Northants require a further two points to guarantee promotion to Division One.
Grace Road (first day of four): Leicestershire 155, Lancashire 2-1
Heavy rain and a sodden outfield meant no play was possible on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match between Leicestershire and Lancashire at the Fischer County Ground.
Luis Reece reached a landmark figure for the season
Lord's (first day of four): Middlesex 199-5 v Derbyshire
Luis Reece claimed a 50th Championship wicket of the season on a day when only 52 balls were possible in the Specsavers County Champion fixture between Middlesex and Derbyshire at Lord’s.
Persistent rain squalls throughout the day allowed for little more than half an hour’s play, but all-rounder Reece picked up the one victim he needed to reach the landmark.
By contrast, the bad weather left Middlesex skipper Dawid Malan stranded on 66 not out, leaving him one short of reaching 1000 Championship runs for the season.
Hove (first day of four): Sussex 299-8 v Worcestershire
A fluent eighth-wicket partnership of 96 in 21 overs between David Wiese and George Garton put Sussex on top against Worcestershire at Hove.
The first half of the second day’s play had been washed out but Wiese and Garton made up for that after the overnight pair of Ben Brown and Tom Clark had fallen in successive overs.
Wiese struck a typically powerful 47 from 72 deliveries, with eight fours. But Garton was even more impressive, with a career-best unbeaten 59 which followed his maiden half-century in the previous match against Derbyshire.
Fast bowler Garton wants to be recognised more as an all-rounder and he is pressing his claims. Here, he faced just 68 deliveries and hit nine fours in an innings that showed his timing as well as power. He reached his fifty with a sumptuous extra-cover drive for four of Ed Barnard, who was armed with the new ball.
The Worcestershire pace attack bowled well. But the surface was slow and then, towards the end of the day, they didn’t make the most of the new ball. The day was further curtailed when the players left the field eight overs early because of bad light.
Courtesy of the ECB reporters network
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.