ANDREW Gale cut a frustrated figure tonight after Yorkshire’s hopes of a crucial Specsavers County Championship victory over relegation-threatened Hampshire were dented by the third-day weather at the Ageas Bowl.

Only 19 overs of play were possible, including just 17 balls after lunch, as mainly bad light forced the players off the field.

Yorkshire could only advance from 69-1 overnight in their second innings to 143-2, a lead of 202.

It means that the champions must now face the prospect of drawing a match they looked likely to win only this morning.

Tomorrow’s final day could prove to be a fascinating one, especially with leaders Middlesex in a strong position against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

They have reduced the Bears to 74-3 chasing 338 ahead of day four.

But there is a threat of more bad weather at Southampton and also in Birmingham, meaning the chances of two draws are high.

Gale insisted Yorkshire will not take a gung-ho attitude to their victory pursuit given there are three matches remaining after this.

“The way we’ve always played our cricket is to try and accelerate the game forward to get a result,” said the skipper, unbeaten on 19.

“The forecast is not great, but we’ll see where we’re at. We can’t play the game by the forecast. That’s about as frustrating as it’s been all year today.

“Obviously we’re keeping an eye on things there (at Edgbaston), but we can only control what’s here. We’ll try and win the game no matter what the situation is there.

“But we’re not going to throw it away at this time of year because there’s no need to take risks. I think there’s rain forecast in Birmingham as well, so we’ll see what happens.”

Adam Lyth’s was the only wicket to fall yesterday. Having completed a stand of 62 for the second wicket with Gary Ballance, he was caught at slip off Brad Wheal’s first ball of the morning for 56 as the score slipped to 101-2.

Lyth had reached 50 off 100 balls with the third of three fours in four balls off Ryan McLaren.

Ballance was 46 not out by the time play was halted for a second time at 2.40pm, with Gale unbeaten on 19.

Although there was a brief rain shower shortly after the players first went off at 12.10pm for a near two and a half hour break, the lack of play was predominantly due to the light, which wasn’t deemed good enough even with floodlights in operation.

“The light wasn’t great,” accepted Gale. “I’m surprised we played as much as we did.

“When me and Gary were out there, it was dark, but obviously the umpires tried to stay out there. I didn’t feel it was dangerous for the batsmen, but maybe it was for the fielders.”

The time off the field at least gave Gale the opportunity to think of ways to overcome the bad light issue.

“I said to the lads ‘do you think there will come a day when we change the ball to a pink one and carry on playing?” he explained.

“Ultimately, you’ve got a couple of hundred people in the ground, and it’s frustrating for everyone. There might come a day when that happens. A pink ball would make a difference.”