WHILE Yorkshire have spent long passages of time watching the rain come down at Taunton over the past three days they have also slipped further down the Championship's Second Division table following emphatic wins by Essex and Leicestershire.

And unless they pull off an unlikely win today against Somerset, who still have the faintest chance of promotion, they will be third from bottom of the pile when they begin their final match of the season, against third-placed Glamorgan at Headingley on Thursday.

After Yorkshire's first innings in the morning had closed on 324 Somerset declared at tea-time yesterday on 141-0, giving Yorkshire a first innings lead of 183.

They hurried to 125-4 off 16 overs before rain ended play for the day, with Yorkshire 308 runs in front.

Yorkshire's new opening batting combination of Phil Jaques and Joe Sayers, who piled up 162 together in the first innings in the biggest first wicket stand of the season, again made rapid progress second time around.

They scored 69 in only eight overs before Jaques spooned Simon Francis to Richard Johnson at mid-off and departed for 27.

Michael Lumb continued his wretched season by driving his second ball straight to Ian Blackwell in the covers.

It became 93-3 as Sayers, trying to maintain the tempo, mistimed his pull at Aaron Laraman and was caught at mid-on by Francis for a brisk 46.

Richard Pyrah turned Francis to backward square leg but was run out at the bowler's end by Laraman's direct hit.

Soon after Matthew Wood had pulled Francis for a big six conditions became too grim to continue.

Updated: 15:17 Monday, September 13, 2004