Weather threatening to scupper Yorkshire CCC’s Bob Willis Trophy hopes

One half-imagines some evil deity, high up in the atmosphere, deliberately dispensing rain on their pitches and then watching with glee as they mop up the spillage.

No sooner have these hardy souls completed their task than the miserable process starts up again.

More rain. Mop up... More rain. Mop up...

And all the while this evil deity – perhaps relishing the scene with a whisky and a cigar – is no doubt laughing his evil head off.

How Andy Fogarty, the Yorkshire groundsman and his dedicated team, keep sane through this process is anyone’s guess.

They got plenty more practice yesterday, the universe toying with them before play was finally called off at 4.25pm, some six hours after the scheduled start, with Yorkshire unable to advance their day one total of 36-2 in reply to Leicestershire’s 124.

The analogy that sprang to mind, as Fogarty and his men kept removing and replacing the covers in vain, was that of a parent confiscating a tub of ice-cream off a recalcitrant child who, no sooner had the parent replaced that tub in the fridge, simply took it straight back out again.

Never has the odious cliche “you don’t have to be mad to work here, but it helps” been more fitting than in the case of Fogarty and his weather-beaten staff, who are so used to the universe raining on their parade by now that they simply take it all in their stride.

Ordinarily, one would say that it added up to a day of frustration for the die-hard spectators present, but seeing as Boris has prevented them from attending, only those with access to the live video stream were left disappointed – “stream” being the operative word in this instance.

Peter Hartley and James Middlebrook, the umpires who have seen it all before, were left with no choice but to deem the outfield too wet for cricket, Yorkshire having now lost more than 450 overs to the weather in their three Bob Willis Trophy home games – the equivalent of more than an entire fixture.

Whether it costs them qualification for the final remains to be seen; Yorkshire go into the second half of this contest well-placed to force victory, but even that might not be enough depending on results elsewhere.

The two group winners with the most points from the three regions go through to the final, with plenty of twists and turns still to come.

To list the various permutations and potential outcomes would task the mathematical capability of Albert Einstein, let alone a cricket correspondent who failed his maths GCSE.

Rich Pyrah, the Yorkshire bowling coach, said: “It’s been frustrating for the last three home games. We’ve had a good start in this game and wanted to drive it home. We’ve still got time, fingers crossed, so we’ll see what happens.

“With the way the league tables are, we’ll have to bat well now to give ourselves a chance. If we do bat well, we’ll still be in a really good position to win the game on day four.”

In non-meteorological news, Jared Warner, the Yorkshire pace bowler, has signed for Gloucestershire on a three-year contract.

Warner turned down a new deal at Yorkshire in search of regular first-team cricket and will join his new club at the end of the season.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to leave Yorkshire, but I feel the opportunity to go to Gloucestershire and hopefully play regular first-team cricket there is the best decision for myself and the development of my career going forward,” he said.

“I’d like to thank everyone at Yorkshire who has helped me to this point, and I leave with some great friends at the club.”

Warner, 23, made two first-team appearances for Yorkshire – the one-day fixture against Durham at Headingley in May last year, and the recent Trophy match at home to Lancashire.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “Naturally we are disappointed to see Jared go, but wish him every success in the future.”