Yorkshire CCC suffer complete washout in the soggy south west as match is abandoned

Umpires Paul Pollard and Billy Taylor decided that there was no prospect of play either today or on tomorrow’s scheduled final day owing to a wet outfield.

They took their decision beneath an almost cloudless sky on a glorious morning at the Seat Unique Stadium.

In a statement, Gloucestershire CCC said: “The umpires have carried out their inspection and regrettably have confirmed the match has been abandoned.

"Due to extremely high amounts of rain in the weeks and days leading up to and during this match, we have an abnormally high water table and had no reasonable prospect of the outfield drying and creating a safe playing surface for players.”

Steve Snell, the Gloucestershire performance director, said: “It’s extremely disappointing, especially in view of how hard our ground staff have worked in an effort to get the game started.

"The weather has been so wet that they faced an impossible task.”

Yorkshire now turn their attention to the match against Sussex at Hove, starting on Thursday, with better conditions forecast next week.

It amounts to further frustration for them after they lost their opening game against Leicestershire at Headingley, conceding the fifth-highest chase in their history (389) to the favourites to finish bottom of Division Two.