THE second day of the final round Bob Willis Trophy clash between Yorkshire and Leicestershire was washed out without a ball bowled at Emerald Headingley.

Heavy morning rain forced an early lunch at 12.15pm before another burst meant the cancellation of a planned 2pm start.

Umpires Peter Hartley and James Middlebrook later inspected in dry but gloomy conditions shortly after 4pm and deemed the outfield unplayable.

Only 60.3 overs have been bowled across the two days, with Yorkshire 36 for two in reply to Leicestershire’s first-innings 124.

That means that so far across the White Rose county’s three home games in the North Group, they have lost a little over 450 overs combined.

The delay in this fixture is more of a frustration for Yorkshire given their hopes of reaching the five-day Lord’s final remain alive.

Second in the North and five points behind Derbyshire prior to this fixture, they need to finish top of the group and then as one of the best two group winners from the North, Central and South to advance to the showpiece occasion, starting on September 23.

Yorkshire bowling coach Rich Pyrah said: “It’s been frustrating for the last three games if we’re being honest. We won the first two games away with the next three at home, where we play well. But we’ve not played more than two days in either of the last two games added to the rain this week.

“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 tomorrow 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.

“There’s a little bit in the pitch, and it’s been under cover all day today, so we’ll have to work hard tomorrow morning to set it up.

“We can’t have done much more this year. We’ve played some excellent cricket, and we’ll keep telling the lads, ‘Don’t get frustrated, don’t chase the game, keep trusting what you’re doing’."