Yorkshire v Leicestershire is a match to forget as rain rules the roost in Scarborough

Why couldn’t it have fallen during The Hundred?

Of course, when the England and Wales Cricket Board crams six rounds of County Championship cricket into the last six weeks of the season, there is always a fair chance the wet stuff is going to intervene.

Still, if it means the sun is more likely to beat down when Welsh Fire Service take on Manchester Super Dwarfs, who cares?

Surely county members have heard of umbrellas?

They certainly needed them in Scarborough, where this game was disrupted as comprehensively as the forecast had suggested.

Forty-three overs were lost on day one, 68 on day two, 64 on day three and the full allocation of 96 on day four.

A draw that had seemed inevitable almost from the outset duly materialised, with both sides losing more overs in this match than they had in the whole season up to that point.

“It’s seemed a long week,” said Anthony McGrath, the Yorkshire head coach.

"Very frustrating, but I guess after the good summer we've had, we were always going to get a game or two where the rain intervened.

“There just wasn’t enough time to get a result. It was pretty inevitable from ball one, really.

“It’s just been one of those weeks and a nondescript game. To get nine points given that we've only played about one day's cricket, it's probably the most we could have hoped for.”

Yorkshire took eight points for the draw and a bonus point for reaching 250 in their first innings.

They were bowled out for 263 - James Wharton top-scoring with 70 and George Hill making 62. Leicestershire reached 84-0 in reply, with Rishi Patel on 41 and Sheridon Gumbs 39.

The result was of little use to either side in the bigger picture. Yorkshire were denied the chance to continue their push for the title, their stated intention, while Leicestershire missed the opportunity to ease their relegation concerns.

Not that McGrath saw it as a missed opportunity given Leicestershire’s position, pointing to the tightly packed nature of the First Division table.

“At the end of the day, we’re not that far in front of Leicestershire (15 points),” he said.

“They've picked up recently and had a big win as well, so they might have been thinking the same about us, that it was a chance for them to carry on their good form.

“We've seen this year in Division One that everyone has beaten everyone and no-one's really run away with it, so I think every team's thinking if we can win one or two, then you can catapult yourself in there.”

A wet outfield prevented any play on day four, with the match called off at 12.25pm.

An early lunch had been scheduled for 12.30pm, but umpires Ian Blackwell and Graham Lloyd decided enough was enough, despite the fact that the sun was starting to break through.

McGrath, who said Yorkshire had even offered to bowl spin from one end in an effort to get some play in, expressed sympathy for the spectators and hosts Scarborough Cricket Club.

But he had no qualms at all about the umpires’ decision.

“The umpires have to take everything into account, I guess - safety and all those kinds of things as well,” he added.

“It’s just frustrating for everyone - the club, who’ve put so much work in and who you want to have a great week, and also the spectators, because I know a lot of people book their holidays here and want to come and watch some cricket.”

Of the limited action that was possible, McGrath said: “We would have bowled as well, given the conditions.

“I thought George Hill played brilliantly with Ben Cliff and Bessie (Dom Bess) to get us up to 260, and then I guess on the bowling side we were disappointed that we didn’t get any wickets.

“We wanted at least one more bonus point but credit to Leicestershire. They stuck in there.”

Alfonso Thomas, the Leicestershire head coach, said: “Bowling-wise, I thought we bowled really well.

“We have a young bowling attack who have bowled a lot of overs.

"We left Ajaz Patel out having looked at the forecast - probably not going to need the left-arm spin. He’s a model professional and could see where we were coming from.

“With the bat, we know what Rishi Patel can do, but I think the one who is really catching the eye is Sheridon Gumbs.

“We’ve seen him come through our seconds and put a lot of good performances in.

"It’s his technique and temperament that we’re really impressed with.”