Rain, rain, more rain and a bit too much bad light dominated the agenda as the third round of the Bob Willis Trophy moved into its second day.
All nine games were affected by the inclement weather, while there was a complete washout at Trent Bridge.
But between the showers, Central Group leaders Somerset were able to move into a strong position against Warwickshire while a county cricket stalwart in Darren Stevens added another memorable milestone to his CV.
North Group
A frustrating day of slow-moving bands of showers and dark clouds meant no play was possible between Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.
It means Notts opener Ben Slater is still unbeaten on 111 in his side’s promising first-innings 268-2.
They managed just one over more than that at Headingley where Yorkshire were prevented from pushing on with their first innings against Derbyshire.
There was enough time though for Dawid Malan to reach an unbeaten 153 with a couple of boundaries and the White Rose will resume on 288-4.
At Grace Road, just 22.3 overs were possible between Leicestershire and Durham.
Durham lost three wickets in that time, including opener Alex Lees (64), to move to 227-6 and record their first batting bonus point of the competition in the process.
Central Group
Leaders Somerset were able to move into a first-innings lead between the rain and bad light against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Skipper Tom Abell (41) helped them move from 80-2 overnight in reply to Warwickshire’s 121 before Steven Davies (56 not out) and Craig Overton (25) added 61 for the sixth wicket.
Lewis Gregory (14 not out) helped them register their first batting point before more persistent showers after tea saw them close on 214-6, a lead of 93.
Wickets were in plentiful supply at Wantage Road during the play that was possible between Northamptonshire and Worcestershire.
The Pears showed some lower-order resistance after resuming on 93-5 before another sudden collapse saw them bowled out for 219.
Riki Wessels (88) and Ben Cox (39) added 128 for the sixth wicket, but when Wessels was bowled by Saif Zaib on 212-6, it sparked a quick end as the last five wickets fell for just seven runs in the space of 29 balls.
Northants progressed to 90-4 in reply before a torrential downpour either side of tea ended the day.
After a first-day washout between Glamorgan and Gloucestershire at Sophia Gardens, it was the visitors who took the spoils on day two after winning the toss and electing to bowl.
They reduced Glamorgan to 80-5 in the 48 overs that were possible before tea with their seamers sharing the wickets around.
Billy Root will resume for the hosts on 18 not out on the third day.
South Group
At Canterbury, Kent and Middlesex were able to bowl more than the mere 57 balls they mustered on the first day, but still had to endure a frustrating wait between the showers.
Bright sunshine did appear late in the day as Kent made timely breakthroughs to reduce Middlesex to 123-6 from their overnight 22-1.
Before lunch, Darren Stevens bagged his 800th career wicket when Stephen Eskinazi was brilliantly caught behind by Ollie Robinson.
Stevens, 44, has taken more than 500 of those scalps in first-class cricket at an average just above 25 and he returned in the evening sunshine for wicket number 801 when Jack Davies was leg before to a hooping inswinger.
There was still time for Robinson to take another blinder with the gloves from the final ball of the day. John Simpson departed off Fred Klaassen’s left-arm seam while Robbie White remained the lynchpin at the other end with a dogged unbeaten 36 from 136 balls.
Hampshire continued to enjoy success with the ball on the second day against Surrey at Arundel.
Resuming on 79-5, Surrey did initially show some resistance as loanee Laurie Evans reached 65, sharing in a sixth-wicket partnership worth 84 with wicketkeeper Jamie Smith (18).
But Ian Holland grabbed two more crucial wickets for Hampshire as he had both Evans and Gus Atkinson trapped leg before as his bowling figures improved to a first-class career best 6-39.
However, heavy rain before and after lunch thwarted Hampshire’s hopes of bowling Surrey out as play was abandoned for the day shortly after 14:15 BST with the visitors on 130-8.
Along the Sussex coast at Hove, it was a similar tale of frustration for Sussex and Essex, who also saw no play after lunch.
Only 31 more overs were possible on the second day, with group leaders Essex able to bag four wickets after the hosts had resumed on 93-2.
Seamers Jamie Porter and Aaron Beard claimed a wicket apiece while off-spinner Simon Harmer took two as he bowled unchanged throughout the morning session from the Sea End.
Harmer now has 22 wickets to his name as the competition’s leading wicket taker, but will have to wait until the third day to add to that tally when Sussex resume on 155-6.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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