Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson cut a frustrated figure as rain intervened yet again at Guildford, with only 27.4 overs bowled on day three against Surrey.
The White Rose’s last three Specsavers County Championship matches, including this, will all have been rain-affected draws, starting with the two previous home matches against Hampshire and Essex at Emerald Headingley.
Play was abandoned for the day just before 3.50pm, by which time the players had already been off the field for two hours and 50 minutes. In reply to Surrey’s 313, Yorkshire were 58-1 from 22 overs.
“It’s been the story of our last few weeks really,” said Patterson, who had earlier completed the eighth haul of five wickets or more in his first-class career.
Surrey started the day on 290-8, with Ben Coad and Patterson – 5-81 for 26.4 overs – mopping up the Surrey tail.
Coad (3-71 from 25 overs) had Morne Morkel caught at second slip with the day’s fourth ball before Patterson had Jordan Clark caught off a top edge at mid-on.
Adam Lyth and Will Fraine then shared 51 inside 20 overs through the majority of the morning session, their second half-century opening stand in as many matches after last week’s 77 in the first innings against Essex.
Lyth was particularly strong through the covers, both off front foot and back, on the way to 30, while Fraine was unbeaten on 17.
The former was the only wicket to fall, the victim of a one-handed reflex catch at gully from Will Jacks, low down to his right off Rikki Clarke. The fielder even looked surprised that he had caught it.
Patterson fully expects the final day to be a pursuit of bonus points only, with neither side particularly keen to contrive a finish in a game which saw Monday’s first day washed out.
“I don’t think we’ll set anything up,” he said. “The forecast is a bit mixed anyway.
“If we were to look at that, given the fact that we’d be sacrificing any potential batting points, it would have to be in our favour to make it considerable. But at this stage, no, it’s not been discussed.
“I think it’s the kind of surface that if you play a full four days, it would be a really good game of cricket. Again, we’ve been robbed by the weather, like we were for the two weeks at Headingley.
“All you can do is play your best cricket and hope the weather improves.”
Yorkshire took the field at the start of play without South African new ball fast bowler Duanne Olivier due to a hip injury sustained during day two of this clash.
He will be scanned when the team returns to Leeds, and it would be a surprise if he faces Warwickshire at York next week, starting on Monday.
Patterson added: “It’s always nice to contribute, but more importantly for me it will be interesting to see how Big D is,” added Patterson. “I’m not quite sure to what extent he’s hurt himself.
“Hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.
“I’d imagine he’ll be a doubt for Monday. I’m not ruling him out at this stage because it’s for the physio to determine the extent of the injury he’s got.
“The fact that it’s such a quick turnaround, he’ll be in doubt at least. After that we’ve got a 10-day break, so if he does miss one it might only be that.”
